The Light Seal
by fascalia
Summary: What if there was a Light which gave Life yet required it? This is Haruno Sakura's adventure, both physically and mentally - she will be challenged at heart. What does heritage mean? What does power mean, truly? What is strength? Why does one love? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1- The Cherry Blossoms Scattered

**Hey guys! **

**This is my very first story ever here on FanFiction! It's Naruto-based with focus on Sakura. It's Shippuuden and Naruto just got back from training with Jiraya. But Sakura isn't exactly what you'd call happy...**

**I do not take any credit for the Naruto universe. Masahi Kishimoto's the badass over here.**

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**Chapter 1 **

**The cherry blossoms scattered**

_Live life so well _

_that even death loves to see you exist_

Sakura wielded her sword and stared at it. It was a gift from Tsunade-sama, for completing her training with the Hokage. Tsunade had nothing more to give the kunoichi in terms of knowledge. The sword was a magnificent piece of work, the scabbard was decorated with swirling cherry blossoms which wrapped themselves around the hilt, as if scattered. The sword itself was beautiful. It had no battle scars - it was innocent and pure, even though a sharp weapon. It had been created for the sole purpose of drawing blood, yet it did not know of horrible battles nor painful deaths.

That was the reason why Sakura hated it. She resembled herself with the untouched sword; unused and unbeknownst of the horrors of battle. Unscarred, unbroken. A single word appeared in her mind, which made her twitch and look at the sword with disgust.

_Weak_.

Oh, how she detested the word. For so many years she had been called that certain word, she had become the synonym of it. She wanted the sword to have scars severe enough to tell of hard battles, etch the memories and their origin deep into her heart.

Now, she had finished her two and half year long training with the Hokage. She had learned everything there was to know. She had read hundreds of medic scrolls in the Old Library of Konoha; hell, she had even read every scroll there was in the Old Library. She had learned all there was to know about chakra control to make her fist the most deadly weapon there was, she had learned everything there was about poisoning and healing. There was no more knowledge to gain in Konoha for her.

Sakura huffed. She knew she was strong, so much stronger than before. But was it really enough? Had she caught up with _those other two_? She wondered skeptically. She really needed to try out her strength... To prove she was useful. To prove she knew strength. To prove she was not an unscarred sword.

"**SAAAAKURA-CHAAAN**!"

Sakura tensed. Only one idiot she knew bellowed her name like that. Namely, a spiky blond and blue-eyed ridiculously strong and dearly beloved idiot.

"Naruto. You've come back."

Sakura smiled and sheathed her sword in it's scabbard which was strapped on her back. She felt warmth spread through her chest as she quickly sprinted towards the male ninja who grinned happily as she cast herself in his arms. She hugged him quickly and then pulled back to take a good look at him.

"Two and a half years, huh. You've really changed Naruto!"

Sakura chirped. She knew she had almost ogled at him, he really had matured and looked more like a handsome man than a childish brat now. He had grown into his features.

"Yeah, I'm hell of a lot stronger now, _dattebayo_! But you haven't changed at all Sakura-chaaan. I mean, you're still flat-"

Naruto gleamed, seemingly proud of himself, as his sentence was stopped abruptly by something flying towards him. Green chakra lit up from Sakura's hand and suddenly, an incredibly strong punch threw Naruto across the street. Pedestrians walked idly by, as they were all used to Sakura's and Tsunade's angry outbursts. Sakura roared and stomped towards the limp body of Naruto, creating cracks in the ground where her foot had forced its way down.

"_Shannaro_! You're the who haven't changed at all! Still flat, my ass!"

Naruto tumbled around on the ground, blood gushing from his head. Naruto's eyes became huge, as he stared at the pink haired kunoichi who glowered angrily at him. He felt the blood run down his chin.

"Wow, Sakura-chan! You're so much stronger now. That punch felt like Tsunade's drunken punch of death!"

An interesting idea took form in Sakura's head. This was her chance. Would she be useful? Had she caught up? She would have these questions deliberately answered.

"Then, let's spar! To see how much we have improved!"

Sakura smiled gladly at the Kyuubi container. Naruto seemed confused while he bandaged his head. Sakura sighed and went over to him and started healing the wound she had inflicted carefully. Naruto looked up at her from his sprawled position on the ground. His expression changed into fascination as he felt the pain subdue as the soothing green chakra caressed his wound.

"Buut, Sakura-chaan... I just got back from training! Two years spent apart and you just want to spar? Can't we just go get some ramen at Ichiraku's instead?"

Sakura looked at him. How could she make him want to spar with her?

"Wait, do you mean that you aren't even really that strong? I bet you just played around with Jiraya, that pervert sannin. Do you expect to become the Hokage of this village if you can't even spar a little after a journey?" Sakura exclaimed arrogantly.

Naruto's head snapped. Sakura knew this was an old trigger, and she had pushed it correctly. She was going to find out how strong she really had become. Sakura finished healing Naruto's head and watched as Naruto stood up. He was a lot taller than before, so he towered over her. She felt small.

"Hey, I am strong. I _will_ become the Hokage of Konoha. I'll show you, if you don't believe me."

"Sure. Just don't go around fooling with the Sexy-no-jutsu on me, 'cause I won't talk to you ever again if you do." Sakura smiled.

"I'm serious, Sakura, I won't use that awesome jutsu. Let's go spar. And then if I win, we go to Ichiraku's! Your treat." Naruto's expression was determined. He really wanted that free ramen.

Sakura settled with a petite smile as she nodded to the ramen obsessed young man - accepting the conditions of the spar. She was glad she had gotten this opportunity and as well see Naruto's improvement over the two and a half years from being apart. She also liked the fact that she had gotten his serious face on, and he hadn't even put the "-chan" after her name - it meant he was going to keep his word. They sprinted towards the Forest of Death's training area, an area Sakura had gotten accustomed to. She had gone there several times to train alone after Sasuke and Naruto had wandered away from Konoha. She had sometimes fought tigers, snakes and frogs; all of them at a huge scale. It had always felt nice to punch a big snake to the far end of the forest. She used to go here to think as well.

Whose fault was it that Sasuke had gone away? The first person which came to her mind was Orochimaru, that slithering creepy man with no bones in his neck. But then the second person who came to her mind was Uchiha Itachi, he had after all engraved hatred and lust for revenge into Sasuke after killing his own Clan. The third and last person who came to her mind was Haruno Sakura. It was her own fault for not being strong enough to stop him. She hadn't been strong enough to make Sasuke more committed towards Konoha and its people. She had been incredibly naïve to think her emotions towards Sasuke would make him stay. That fateful night when he reacted to her emotions and expressed his gratitude towards her with a softly whispered 'thank you' and a lump on the back of her head. He had seriously knocked her down in the most unconventional and embarrassing way.

The Forest of Death grew deeper as they neared the training area. Memories from the Chuunin exams appeared in Sakura's mind, but she pushed them away in to a corner. Flickering memories of the lost member of Team 7 would not haunt her in the middle of her spar with Naruto.

When Sakura jumped over a huge fallen log she looked over her shoulder, only to discover two ninjas following them; Ino and Kiba. Naruto noticed them as well and slowed down a bit to greet them loudly. Naruto fell into talk with Shikamaru and Choji who also showed up behind a tree. Sakura felt the presence of Lee and Tenten coming after them as well. And, that presence... was it Neji? Yet another one, faster; she recognised it as Kakashi-sensei.

"Hey Sakura, I heard Naruto came back! We wanted to throw a _Welcome back_ party but... We heard through Kiba that the two of you are going to spar, what the hell Sakura? Kiba said he heard it after you had punched Naruto to the heavens."

Ino called out to Sakura.

"Yeah, it's just a little spar to see how much Naruto's improved! We plan on going to Ichiraku's later, yeah? We'll celebrate there!" Sakura smiled back to Ino.

"Sounds awesome!" Kiba shouted from behind Ino, Sakura saw how he emerged from the shadows of the bushes together with Akamaru. Kiba sniggered and looked at Sakura with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"And I also heard it's your treat, Sakuraa. Rumours of this calibre spreads pretty fast here in Konoha, you know?" Kiba looked at Sakura and his smile dropped when he saw her expression.

"Yes, Kiba. If I lose, that is." Sakura stared at Kiba and then plunged further into the Forest of Death. Ino shuddered. Kiba whimpered at the same time as Akamaru - they sounded exactly the same. He then spat at the ground.

"What the hell was that for? What's her fucking deal?" Kiba aggressively wondered out loud, not really meant as questions for Ino to answer.

"Kiba, you should look out. That was Sakura's infamous Cold Stare. I have not seen it since Jiraya was found by Sakura peeking on the women's outdoor springs..."

"What? Is that some kind of jutsu?" Kiba growled.

"No, it just means she's mad like hell." Ino declared while a shiver ran through her core.

"Oh."

Naruto and Sakura arrived at a clearing in the forest and they both nodded to each other; this would be the place of the fight. It was a spacious clearing, with the huge tree branches reaching out of the forest. It almost looked like an arena, with trees surrounding it.

Kakashi went to stand between the two of them, it seemed like he wanted to act as a judge of the fight. Sakura also suspected he was there for having heard the rumours of her treating everyone to Ichiraku's if she lost. She moped in the back of her mind. Really, none had faith in her at all.

"Alright, Naruto - Sakura! I hope you know the rules." Kakashi declared and watched each of them carefully. Sakura and Naruto looked at their former teacher with wide eyes.

"Rules?" They both asked at the same time with furrowed eyebrows.

Kakashi chuckled.

"Right. There are none. Fight!"

Kakashi jumped away and landed on a tree branch besides Neji, who had just arrived.

"Why is it that you are here, Neji? Don't you have anything more important to do?" Kakashi questioned Neji's presence as he watched the emotionless face of the prodigy ninja.

"...Free food." Neji muttered under his breath and simply stated his matter there. Kakashi was startled, but then he chuckled knowingly. He had come for the same reason. He felt a bit guilty towards Sakura, but she couldn't possibly think that she could win against Naruto of all people. She wasn't even on a compatible level with Hyuuga Hanabi. Kakashi wanted, though, to know what powers Naruto had gained through these two and a half years of training with Jiraya.

"_Here I come._"

Naruto's voice changed. It was a dark voice, flooding with confidence and authority. Sakura was happy Naruto had gotten serious, but as she felt how he activated his deep red chakra to flood overwhelmingly everywhere she suddenly felt cold sweat run down her back. That much chakra going out of control just from being fired up for a spar? Sakura gulped. She then shook her head, the hellish training with Tsunade would _not_ go to waste.

"**_Shannaro_**!"

The Forest of Death was awfully quite that afternoon. The only movement noticeable was a snake the size of a mountain which slithered away in the abnormally over-all huge forest. The sky was cloudless, the colour of the sky was strikingly blue. The sinking sun shone objectively and mercilessly on the forest, creating shafts of light from the canopy to play with the darkness on the ground. The silence was suddenly broken.

Naruto rushed at Sakura straight on, as usual, and started a series of combat techniques Sakura didn't recognise, she pondered while she evaded every attack. His newly learnt skill he had caught on to while on training was magnificent. Sakura felt relief spread inside her; he took her seriously and she was even able to evade his punches. Evading and dodging had been one of the prioritised teachings Tsunade had taught Sakura. As a Medic Nin, one was not allowed to get hurt. Sakura's small steps, which she took with incredible precision, was the most efficient and least chakra consuming dodging technique. Not many would be able to pull it off as she did though, as one had to have enormous chakra control. As Naruto would get tired from attacking her so ferosciously, she would see her chance later and attack him when he was exhausted.

It went on like this for a long time; Sakura evading every blow, and Naruto continuing to attack without pause. Naruto hadn't even broken a sweat. Sakura was puzzled. She knew she could go on like this for another hour, but her patience started to wear off, and also seeing Kiba snoring in a bush angered her. Ino was still cheering for Sakura, and Lee continued to blow her kisses. But the face of Neji and Kakashi was completely obvious: disappointment. It seemed like Neji shrugged his shoulders and was about to walk away; thinking free food was not worth this much waste of his time. This spar was pointless.

Sakura realised that Naruto's stamina was above average. It was completely off the grid. His chakra just kept flowing and it seemed like his chakra reserves were infinite. She gave up her strategy of wearing him out; it obviously wouldn't work. She wanted to test her true strength. Suddenly, instead of evading, Sakura stepped in and gave a surprised Naruto a clean and smooth right hook in the face.

Naruto, letting out a little light shriek, crashed away into the ground. Neji turned his head, seeming like he pondered for a bit, and then walked back to stand beside Kakashi; he watched the two ninjas fight with observingly cold white eyes.

Suddenly, Naruto was behind her. His Kagebunshin disappeared in a cloud of smoke from the ground where she had punched the clone to crash. _Damn it_, Sakura reacted. She turned around to protect her face from the oncoming fist, but she was too slow. His fist touched her cheek and she flew away.

She had seen it, even though he had tried to hide it when he hit her. His face was serious, but then that one little twitch of his eye as he saw who he was fighting, and then when he had punched her... His punch was weak, even weaker than Tsunade's. She could easily deal with those, even though they were superior to most ninja's punches. His taijutsu used to be better than this...

_He's holding back._

Sakura fell down on the ground, creating a small crater when hitting the surface on the ground. She coughed and felt slimy blood blended with saliva trickle down from her mouth. She spat out the blood and wiped her mouth with her right hand. Her green chakra flared around her, telling Naruto of the mood she was in. Naruto smirked.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, no need to get mad!"

Naruto was suddenly above her, grinning, as he kicked downwards with his heel while falling. Sakura doubled over, disappearing underneath Naruto as she sprinted away from his attack with the help of a tree branch as a platform; his kick missed her by centimetres. Sakura felt the powerful wind current from Naruto's kick in her face; she knew that the power from that kick was not to be associated with. She made a fast series of hand signs and then three huge shuriken came spinning out of nowhere. Naruto eyed them, watching, and then he ran towards her, not caring about the three shuriken which spun from different directions towards her. As they neared him, Sakura wondered what he was up to. Suddenly, Sakura felt how someone hugged her from behind. Naruto.

"Got you, Sakura-chaan! What are you going to do now?"

Sakura watched helplessly as the Naruto clone was struck with her three shurikens and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. How many Kagebunshins had he made while she didn't notice? Sakura almost cried out, her frustration and anger consumed her. Why didn't he take her seriously anymore? She'd show him not to take her lightly. Considering Naruto's chakra, this was the real one, not a Kagebunshin.

"Take me seriously, **damnit**!"

Sakura frustratedly called out, took a strong hold of Naruto's embracing hands and threw him with all of her strength over her head, so that he crashed head-on into a tree. But it didn't stop at that, the tree broke in half, and Naruto continued his journey through the forest by crashing into another five trees and breaking them in half. A cloud of splinters and tree branches spread and Sakura huffed. He wouldn't die from something like that.

_He's pitying me._

She realised this, even though she had succeeded in throwing Naruto; she knew he had kind of let her do it. If he had let loose his Kyuubi chakras; she knew that she would be dead. He was holding back and he pitied her. Sakura froze in her place as she understood.

They're still... still showing her their backs. She wasn't enough. She would never, never catch up to them. The powerful Kyuubi container and the renowned, murderous Uchiha gone rouge - they had just ran over obstacles and preserved through incredible hardships in order to become strong. They both had such goals, goals they'd do anything to reach. She, on the other hand, was just a plain and simple girl with no goals at all. She wasn't even from a ninja family. She was just...

Annoying.

Suddenly, Sakura saw something move in the corner of her eye. She snapped her head towards the movement, thinking Naruto couldn't have recovered so fast. No, it wasn't Naruto, someone had joined the crowd of people watching; a dark haired beauty with graceful movements came to stand besides Neji and Kakashi. The wind blew her hair as if it caressed her, the beautiful and refined features of her complexion was noticeable even from the distance Sakura was at. The black haired young woman's body had matured as well, her stance having more of a backbone than it had two and a half years ago. She stood tall and beautiful.

Hinata.

Naruto noticed this as well, from his embarrassing position stuck half way into a tree. Sakura watched as Naruto's whole face flushed into a bright pink, almost like the colour of her hair, and she also noticed how his red chakra started to violently sparkle around him.

Sakura decided to taunt him further.

"Is this all you've got, Naruto?" She snorted, putting on a high and mighty act.

"You disappoint me. Deeply." She continued to drawl as she looked down at him, grimacing her face into a angry and arrogant demeanour. As if she was on top of the world. Then her last verbal attack made him roar, even though she herself felt how her own words made her flinch.

"Do you plan to bring back Sasuke-kun with that poor level of strength?"

Sakura thought '_Hell, this will change things'_ as the tree Naruto had been stuck in exploded in a cloud, tree splinters and branches flew everywhere. Sakura evaded most of them, though some splinters made tiny scars on her arms while she protected her body. Naruto had reacted to her taunting.

Sakura shuddered as she felt the raw strength Naruto spread around him and gave herself a mental slap. Of course, the strength she had seen him display up until this moment was nothing. It was nothing of his real strength, not a zip of it.

Naruto was suddenly in front of her, rage and sadness mirroring in his eyes, and Sakura saw the small ball of raw powerful blue light sizzling in his hand as he called out:

"**Rasengan**!"

She had no time to cover herself but she had time to think_ 'Damn you, Hinata'_. Naruto threw the small ball of raw chakra towards her and she felt the pain explode. The forest itself shook by the force of the incredible impact. Sakura heard Kakashi calling out, she heard Ino shriek in horror and she heard, clearest of all, Naruto's cry as he realised what he had done.

Sakura felt herself fly through the air, high up, above the tree tops. She abstractly thought of how beautiful the weather was that day. Sakura felt how she flew through the air and she saw that the clouds were so close to her. It was a wonderful feeling; having the world beneath her. She was above all else.

Seconds later however, Sakura started to fall, tumbling down, gravity reminding her of her rightful place - down to earth she fell. She fell fast, suddenly she hit the ground with her back, she gasped for breath which refused to come. The Forest of Death rumbled. Sakura's impact cracked the ground, and suddenly a crater of stone surrounded her. Light flooded all around her. It was beautiful. Sakura felt how she almost gave up, the pain took over. She would not live to see the next sunrise, she knew, she felt it. This world, she could leave it behind... All of her hatred would vanish, all of her anguish would disappear... Her inferiority would be equal to nothing in matters of importance, her tortured feelings of despair with her own helplessness could finally disperse. Life was pouring out of her...

Suddenly in a flash, a pair of sad but darkly beautiful and emotionless onyx eyes appeared in her memories. They silently cried for salvation, for repentance as they suddenly changed into a furious red colour which craved death. The black pupils surrounded by the red colour rotated and the gaze told of nothing more than revenge and hatred; arrogance and anger consumed them.

_I want to save him._

She couldn't die just yet. No freaking way. She still had things she needed to do. Sakura slowly tried to rise from her position on the ground, but she was startled at the sudden pain in her back made her collapse. She had broken her leg, but her back... She needed to hurry, or she would die. Her chakra reserves were non-existent. The rest of her friends would come to her, they would watch her die in pain, and she had no intention of making them see her like that or making Naruto lose yet another team mate. Determination not to die overwhelmed the kunoichi. Sakura felt something forming on her forehead, it tickled and she felt humongous power gather into one place. Her eyes almost bulged. It was there, the one thing she had saved chakra up for for the last two years.

The Strength of a Hundred Seal had appeared? She felt it. That little purple rhombus which was so powerful... On _her_? Even Shizune hadn't been able to create it... Sakura was mesmerised by herself. This was the greatest timing ever. Sakura focused with all her lasting strength to her newly created seal to unleash the healing power, she slowly transferred the green power from the seal through her blood system, through her limbs and muscles as it healed her broken leg, all the way to her spinal cord. It was a pragmatic process at first, but then it suddenly sped up. She felt how the green chakra gently gathered around the broken spinal core. There was no pain. It went so fast, suddenly it was healed and she was up and running on her feet. Sakura felt how the seal disappeared from her body. She was a bit disappointed, but still glad it had helped her. It had saved her life, literally.

Sakura ran with all her might, to not worry the others. She saw Kakashi heading towards her at an incredible speed as she jumped over a fallen tree, but Sakura made a reassuring 'it's okay' sign.

"It's alright Kakashi, he pulled back in the last second. The Rasengan's power of after effect just overwhelmed me." Sakura said as she smiled tiredly. Kakashi made a worried expression, but since he saw that Sakura was up and running, she was fast, he disappeared back to the place where Neji stood. Naruto came crashing towards her, almost crying.

"Ah 'tebayo, Sakura-chaan! 'tebayo; I thought I had almost... killed you! I'm so sorryy! I know you didn't mean what you said and yet... and yet... I just snapped, I'm so sorry! Are you injured?"

_Of course I am injured, you freaking idiot, you just plummeted a fucking power bolt into me!_ Sakura thought tiredly when Naruto flailed and hugged the girl who had serious internal injuries, which he seemingly disregarded completely. Sakura smiled through the pain of having her broken arm crushed even more by her idiot friend.

"No baka, you barely missed me. It was just the after effect of the Rasengan which sent me flying to the moon. Hah, I won't die from just that. And I'm sorry I said that to you... I just... I just wanted you to be serious." Naruto stood on the tree branch Sakura had stayed on, he snivelled and hugged the kunoichi again, but this time tenderly.

"I know, I know. Sakura-chan, let's stop this spar. I've been holding back really much, so I thought it'd be fine but... I'm so sorry Sakura, I'm never going to hurt you again! I'm never going to fight you again... I'll treat you to Ichiraku's instead, and everyone else as well!"

Sakura felt as if someone had hit her with a thousand of those Rasengans at the same time, continuously. She realised this as well now. He really had held back, so much, with everything he could manage. It had even pained him to hold back his chakra's wild nature. She had ridiculously thought that she would've had a chance, that she finally could...

The panic took its grip on her consciousness. She felt how the darkness inside her started to menacingly ask obnoxious questions.

_Who do you think you are? You don't deserve to stand besides them. Someone as weak as you should not even be called a ninja. What are you even doing in this world? What purpose do you have to accomplish? Nothing. You live for nothing. So stand aside, and let the ones who are actually strong handle everything. Because; you are just a weak girl..._

She was always either being protected or she was just a mere hindrance to them. She felt the darkness of her bitter despair and brooding angst attack her, she couldn't breath. It pressed on her lungs, it slithered down her throat and sank its teeth into her flesh and spread its poison of weakness and self-loathing through her veins.

Sakura swayed, she felt how her balance was lost and she fell from the tree branch.

Everything in the world dispersed into darkness.

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**So yeah, that's about it for now folks! **

**Please review and tell me what you guys think!**

**Love,**  
**Lovisa**


	2. Chapter 2 - Realization

**Chapter 2 **

**Realisation**

_Shinobi are not prisoners of fate - only prisoners of their own minds_

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Sakura awoke slowly. She felt how warmth caressed her cheek; the sunlight was soothing and comforting. She came to as she smelled the fresh, metallic and well known hospital scent, she even knew which room she was lying in without opening her eyes. It was the Recovery Room, only meant for patients who had just been healed or had recently undergone surgical procedures. Sakura mentally made an overall analysis of her wounds. Most importantly, she felt her spine was completely healed, thanks to the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Her arm had been healed, probably by Tsunade, she could feel it had Tsunade's chakras still left lingering in her veins and bones. She felt small bruises covering her back, one large bruise on her thigh which was from her leg being broken but then healed by the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Sakura felt that she had also gotten one swollen eye. She wasn't keen to keep her appearance beautiful anymore, so the swollen eye was only a small bother to her rather than a life crisis which it would have been for a civilian teenage girl.

Three of her ribs had been broken and she felt that one had punctured her lung, though healed now. It puzzled her, for she had no memory of Naruto ever breaking her ribs during the fight. Then she remembered that she had fainted; she had probably fallen on a tree branch underneath the one she had been standing on. Shame overcame her, for falling, for fainting, but she pushed the painful thoughts into a corner of her mind. She'd allow herself to think about that later.

Her eyelids were heavy, but she didn't want to show that she was awake. She felt the presence of another person's chakra in the room. She recalled the blue sparkling chakra; it was probably Kakashi-sensei. Suddenly, memories of her spar with Naruto came crashing back, yet again without her consent, she remembered the despair she had felt when she had understood her own weakness. Sakura controlled her breathing, otherwise she would have a panic attack again. She didn't want to talk with anyone at the moment, so she relaxed her body. She slowed her breathing even more, to make it seem like she was peacefully asleep.

Suddenly, Sakura felt a presence nearing the room at a frightening speed. She recognised the powerful and angry chakra immediately. Sakura did absolutely not want to wake up now. Tsunade came crashing in through the door to the Recovery Room only to discover Kakashi sitting on a couch, reading a book. Kakashi looked up from the book and smiled with his one eye.

"Good day to you, Hokage. Are you here as well to visit Sakura-san? She's still asleep though." Kakashi greeted her politely, even though he went back to reading the book.

Tsunade watched the sleepy eyed ninja with a certain dislike.

"Kakashi. Do you know what Sakura told me when she first asked me to teach her?" Kakashi looked up yet again from his book, this time a bit confused.

"How would I know?" He asked the Hokage. Tsunade clenched her teeth.

"Witty. She told me she was weak and that she wanted to catch up with her team mates. She talked a lot about having them watch her back."

"Yes, I am aware of her former feelings." Kakashi had no idea where this conversation was going, but he was quite sure he didn't like it.

"No, you don't understand. Sakura was weak. Do you know why? She relied too much on her intellectual abilities instead of her physical training. None told her otherwise. Also, of course, her priorities lay primarily in her outer appearance to attract Sasuke's attention back then... But that was not the only reason she was weak.

"_Kakashi_. You taught Sasuke the Chidori. You taught Naruto to believe in his abilities. But what exactly did you do for Sakura? **Huh**? What did you teach her? Other than her only usefulness being someone who stood at the sidelines and cheered for her other two oh-so strong team mates?"

Kakashi's eye widened, but then he sighed and looked up at Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, you have to understand. When I took Sakura in my team, Team 7, my sole purpose for her being there was to balance out Sasuke and Naruto opposites and rivalry. Yes, she had a scholastic intelligence above average. But... She's just a girl, and on top of that from a civilian family... She was weak and did not seem to care much about it. Sasuke and Naruto protected her..."

Kakashi almost died from a flying roundhouse kick delivered by a roaring Tsunade.

"I'm_ just a girl _as well, Kakashi! Does that make me weak? Does that make me any less worthy of being Hokage? _Teme_! What does her family matter? She's worked just as hard as anyone else, maybe even harder what with no bloodline limit or famous Clan behind her!"

Tsunade glared at the male ninja who was sprawled on his back in the other side of the room, fortunately for Kakashi was that he were in a hospital. Sakura winced. She couldn't listen to this anymore. She couldn't bear it.

"_Tsunade-sama!_"

Tsunade stopped her fist from smashing Kakashi's face to a bloody pulp, the Hokage looked over her shoulder to see Sakura standing, a bit unsteadily, beside the hospital bed. It looked like she had gotten a harsh fever, her eyes were glazed, the pink hair was a mess, sweat glistened on her skin and her cheeks were flushed. The hospital cloth hung loosely on her.

"Tsunade-sama. Please. Do not blame my weakness on Kakashi-sensei."

"But-" Tsunade's sentence was broken off short by Sakura.

"**No**. I'm the one to blame, none else. Please stop beating sensei up, he doesn't deserve it."

Sakura was probably the only one in the village who dared to speak up against the Hokage. Tsunade let Kakashi go and as she did, he vanished into thin air. Tsunade knew he had let her beat him up, only for her frustration to be let out on him. She thanked him quietly for it.

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't get you any stronger." Tsunade looked at Sakura with sad eyes. Sakura flinched for a second, Tsunade noticed, but then she regained her countenance.

"What are you talking about, Tsunade-sama? You've made me really strong! You've been the best teacher ever. And I'm so happy for the sword you got me, it's very beautiful!" Sakura cheered happily, plastering a smile on her face as she tried to lead their conversation to another subject. She did not want to talk about her failure. She did not want to talk about how weak she was, discuss why she was weak and so forth. She wouldn't be able to bear with it. She feared that she would collapse again and she had no plans of doing such. Yet another sign of weakness was fainting.

"Yes, indeed it is. I actually specifically made it to suit your characteristics, Sakura-chan. I thought about the name for it... Do you think Yasakani would do?"

Tsunade smiled, she had forgotten entirely about the former discussion. Or it at least seemed like it.

"Yes, that sounds like a perfect name for it, Tsunade-sama." Sakura accepted happily. Tsunade turned her back away from Sakura and looked out of the window. The sun shone mercilessly, making the shadows of the village even more obvious, creating a clear contrast between the light and the dark. A pitch black stray cat passed in the shadows of a closed shop, a gleeful child ran to its parents in the sunlight of the bustling street.

"Sakura, I noticed something strange about your spinal cord when I healed you... Did something-"

Suddenly the hospital scenery flickered before Sakura's eyes, her legs gave way to gravity and she fell. Tsunade reacted as fast as lightning, she caught her before the girl's head hit the floor. Sakura had fainted again. This time it was because of the fever, and probably the stress as well, Tsunade pondered. The Hokage looked sadly, with a tint of pity in her eyes, at the sleeping flustered face of Haruno Sakura.

"Oh, little one..." Tsunade's voice drifted off.

Sakura's back ached and she realised she was awake. Grumbling, she shifted to a more comfortable position on her side on the hard hospital bed. She felt how much her bones had healed, even though they still hurt, she knew they were completely functional. She should get up. Sakura bit her lip, opened her eyes to rise from the bed but was completely surprised as her eyes were met with two teary cerulean blue ones. The yellow haired boy hugged her suddenly, lovingly, and Sakura remembered why she loved her friend so dearly.

"S-sakuraa, I'm s-so sorryyy!" Naruto cried in her hair, his voice coming out muffled as he washed her hair with his tears and snot. For once, Sakura didn't get angry with the little fuzzy ball. Sakura noticed several other presences in the room. How many had come to visit her?, she puzzled as she lightly pushed Naruto's body out of the way to get a better view of the room.

Almost everyone was there. Lee stood on the right side of the bed together with a sniffling Naruto and he looked extremely happy she was awake. Ino stood by her side at the left with flowers in her hand; they were pink cherry blossoms. Even Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru and Choji was there. Kakashi sat in the window with his nose in his orange, erotic little book. He had a bandage covering his left arm; Tsunade had probably refused to heal him. Sakura felt sorry for him and noted to herself she would heal him later.

"Hey, guys. Here to collect the prize of the bet, huh?" Sakura smiled with a twitch of her mouth.

"Shitface, you made me fucking worried! How could you..." Ino flung herself on the bed and hugged the pink haired girl while crying a cataclysm of tears. Sakura felt relief spread through her body as her best friend soothed her pain. Her hug was tender and caring.

"Ino-pig..." Sakura breathed happily.

"_Me too_!" Lee bellowed and flung himself on the bed, on top of Ino and Sakura.

Sakura couldn't breath.

"Don't leave me out!" Naruto cast himself over Lee with a '_Dattebayo_!' and landed with a grunt. Now, Sakura was being crushed.

"Hey, you're suffocating her! Let me join." Kiba howled cheeringly and also flung himself over Naruto, Akamaru joined and jumped on the back of Kiba. Sakura was almost passing out. Shikamaru sighed and muttered 'troublesome asscracks...'. Hinata blushed.

Choji thought this game looked interesting and prepared for a run-up...

Suddenly, Shizune flung the door open and stormed inside the Recovery Room; she had heard someone screaming for help. Shizune only found to her amusement a quite funny scenario; several respectable Jounin ninjas was sprawled in a human pile of moving body parts on the bed.

"Hey Lee! Where the fuck do you think you're touching?" Kiba growled. Lee shuddered, his eyebrows furrowed into a unibrow as he quickly retracted his hand.

"Oh. Ew. I'm sorry Kiba, I blame my youthfulness; as I thought you were Sakura-chan..."

"_Shannaro_!" Was heard from the bottom of the human pile. Naruto giggled as he swayed on the ninja made mountain.

"What are you rascals doing? Where's Sakura? She's supposed to be resting here!" Shizune declared, with an amused but yet worried expression visible in her features.

A muffled voice was heard in the bumble of fighting ninjas, laying on top of each other.

"_Mmmpf _here_ Shizune! _Help_-mmepf!_"

Shizune looked surprised at the pile of ninjas and watched it closely. She found that Ino was still crying and hugging a choking Sakura at the bottom, with Lee having a smug smile and blissfully happy eyes as he also hugged Sakura intimately, Sakura was completely immobile so she couldn't punch him to the moon. Lee would savour this moment forever. However, Naruto pushed Lee away to the side, with one surprisingly flexible foot pressed at Lee's face to prevent him from moving in any closer, and took over Lee's former position of cuddling with Sakura. Naruto sniffed the petal smooth pink hair, it smelled like cherry blossoms... Naruto also felt the shape of Sakura's body as it was pressed to him, it really had matured... A low warning growl was heard from the pink haired bumble. Naruto stiffened.

Kakashi chuckled as he clapped his hands to make notice of himself to the human pile.

"Alright, it's enough now, scatter! Do you want Sakura to die? She's suffocating, you know."

As everyone got their attention captured by his words, they looked down to Sakura at the bottom. She wasn't breathing. The ninjas jumped out of the bed fear-stricken. Ino stepped aside and listened to her heart, fearing the worst. Sakura suddenly opened her green eyes as a viscous chakra spread like poison in the clean hospital room, ensnarling every person in there. Naruto shivered. Sakura got up and punched both Naruto and Lee at the same time, in the back of their heads. They fell crumpled to the floor. Kiba backed away into a corner.

"Omae..." Sakura growled. The hospital room's floor shook.

"You really know how to cheer a person up." Sakura suddenly smiled, taking her friends by surprise. But the ninjas couldn't be fooled; for it was a devious smile. Ino gulped.

"I'm going to sue you all if you don't pay for me at Ichiraku's."

"No fair, Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed from his position on the floor. When he saw Sakura's deadly glare, he agreed.

"Oh, dattebayo, I remember now. I promised you I would treat you after we sparred."

"Damn right." Sakura smiled. Then she turned her head towards everyone in the room.

"Thank you for visiting me, everyone. I'm completely healed and I'm not hurting at all. I'll be released this afternoon, probably. So, what about Ichiraku's tonight?"

Hinata smiled, her beautiful features was even more apparent as she did. She mumbled almost inaudibly low.

"I'd love to, S-sakura-san." Ino agreed with the Hyuuga girl, followed by Kiba and there was also some kind of agreeing noises coming from the two crumpled ninjas on the floor. Ino turned to Shikamaru and Choji.

"You two are definitely coming as well. Shikamaru, you have no choice. Choji, there'll be lots of good food there, you know?"

Choji agreed fast enough, but Ino noticed how Shikamaru was about to protest. Ino swiftly walked up by his side and grabbed Shikamaru's ear, to which he flinched.

"You are coming with us, no questions about it. It's not like you've got anything better to do." Ino's blue eyes smiled darkly. Shikamaru sighed.

"Ino, let go of my ear, it hurts. Alright, alright, how troublesome-."

"Ichiraku's tonight then!" Kakashi smiled with his one eye and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Everyone was left confused, would _Kakashi_ join their night out? Sakura smiled happily; she loved Konoha and her friend's who always were there for her, even though they looked at her with pity in their eyes; that was a flaw which Sakura decided to ignore.

Sakura walked out on the bustling streets of Konoha, she had just been released from the hospital with definite instructions from Shizune to rest well. Sakura wandered silently, ignoring the world's noises and focused on the scenery before her. The parchment had flecks of shadow and light playing on the ground as the trees swayed in the breeze. A single leaf flew past her emerald eyes, she watched as it silently took its journey to earth, where it would mould and die.

The way of life itself was death.

"Forehead, are you having some morbid, weird thoughts again?"

Ino flung herself on Sakura in a crushing hug. Ino smiled and gripped Sakura's chins and stretched them so it looked like Sakura was smiling while grimacing. Sakura stuck her tongue out and poked Ino in her stomach; Ino's most sensitive spot, Sakura knew.

"Hey, off limits!" Ino called and laughed.

"Let's go get dead-drunk, Saakura! For tonight, my dearest... we shall party!"

Sakura sighed inadvertently. Maybe she needed to relax a bit and try to have fun. Fun; what was that again? Something about smiling. She had been so enveloped in her own dark thoughts for a while now... Have some fun; that would do. Sakura smiled at Ino's expecting and excited face. She needed this, she told herself.

"Yeah, let's go have some fun tonight, Ino-pig."

"Oh, let's go to my place! We can have some saké and decide what to wear before we go join the others!" Ino profoundly tried to poke Sakura in the side, but Sakura only jumped swiftly away. The pink haired kunoichi smirked.

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura never used much thought anymore on what she wore. If it was comfortable, it it was a material in which she could make any movement, it would do. Ino, on the other hand, had never gotten out of her appearance obsession. Sakura felt sorry for her; so much waste of time in front of the mirror.

"Oh, not to worry Sakura, I'll choose your clothes for you. For once you have to look good!" Ino smirked as Sakura swung at her.

"Hey, that was a bad insult." Sakura snarled.

"Well, I'll make you look beautiful tonight" Ino chirped, oblivious to Sakura's death glare.

"Whatever, Ino-pig." Sakura shrugged; she didn't care.

As they got to Ino's house, Ino prepared two glasses of strong saké. Sakura, still having the thoughts of her spar with Naruto, swept her glass in one go. Ino stared at her.

"Hey, hey, Sakura. Are you planning to go all out tonight?"  
"I just feel like drinking, 's all. It's been a while since the last time."

"Oh, yeah. I think it was about half a year ago we went out together? Far too long! You've been working so much lately, I feel like I haven't seen you in, like, forever."

"I've been working a lot because Tsunade's training became easier and easier. In the end of my training, it only became practical and she observed me while working in the hospital. And just yesterday, she said I had finished my training." Ino's eyes widened.

"Shizune trained with Tsunade for five years, and she never said she'd even finished!"

"Yes, I know."  
"Then we have one more reason to celebrate tonight, other than Naruto's homecoming! Now, onto what we're going to wear..." Ino shuffled into the labyrinth called her closet. Sakura poured another cup and swallowed it all. She'd have to bear the appearance-fixated kunoichi for another two hours.

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**Heyy guys!  
I know this chapter might not have been so interesting, but you just wait.. I have a lot more coming!**  
**Update: I decided to do one chapter out of two, so longer chapters are going to come!**

**Please, please, review and I will love you to death!**

**Love,**  
**Lovisa**


	3. Chapter 3 - Power of Saké

**Hi y'all! **

**I'm so excited to post this newest chapter of The Light Seal. In this chapter, however, I've played around a little. I need to warn you in this chapter though; there's a bit of cursing and a bit of intimacy. Can't say no more than that without revealing what's going to happen! This chapter was a bit rushed actually, since what's going to come later will be much more fun and interesting to read. I've already written chapter 4-5 because those were the most fun to write. Until then, I need to build things up.**

**So please enjoy this chapter! PM me if you find any grammar mistakes or sentences who came out wrong. Would love to have a Beta reader as a partner in crime. ****_Enjoy_****! **

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

**The power of saké**

_I'm lost in this maze_

_And I can't find my way out_

_My dream is but a black void_

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Kiba and Naruto had already arrived at Ichiraku's before everyone else. Naruto ordered two Super Size Jumbo Mumbo King Kong bowls of ramen and Kiba ordered a bottle of saké. The saké was the strongest Ichiraku's had to offer. Kiba looked at the two steaming, pork filled noodles which Teuchi put in front of Naruto a few minutes later. They were mouthwatering and Kiba regretted not having ordered anything.

"Sharing is caring, you know." Kiba confessed to Naruto who had his whole mouth full of noodles as he munched away happily. Naruto noticed Kiba's eyes wander to his two super bowls so he glared at Kiba murderously - though there was still noodles hanging from his mouth; this made him look a tiny bit less frightening.

"Don't you dare touch my noodles, or I will hit you Kiba. Sakura-style." Naruto warned with a low snarl and Kiba snorted as someone entered through the door to Ichiraku's.

"Did you mention my name, Naruto?"

Kiba and the Kyuubi container froze. However, Sakura bounced happily towards them with no killing intent surrounding her; only a shimmer of innocent happiness. Sakura wore a black tank top and a pair of tight dark blue tights. It was a simple outfit, yet it was perfect on Sakura. Her pale complexion was put into focus in the contrast to her dark clothes. The picture was disturbed by the bandages on her arms and one on her leg, as well as a patched up eye. Sakura was truly beautiful this night, even with her bandaged injuries.

Naruto and Kiba let out a huge huff. She was pretty, but she was _completely_ wasted. Beside Sakura there was Ino, who did not really bounce as Sakura did, and she had a faint blush tainting her cheeks as she struggled to keep up with Sakura's bouncing. Ino wore a small purple coloured glittery dress, a bit short, but somehow she pulled it off - something only Ino could do. Her eyes shimmered as she stumbled forward to the inn's bar. Kiba and Naruto shared a look; that one would not last the night.

Sakura decided to sit next to Kiba, so she bounced his way while Kiba ordered something to eat, finally giving in to his growling stomach. Naruto started talking with Shikamaru who had just arrived together with Choji and Lee. Ino joined them and hugged a surprised Shikamaru from behind. In the murmurs of the inn, Sakura could hear Ino whispering something intelligble in Shikamaru's ear which made him blush. Profusely.

Hinata and Tenten arrived as well, and it seemed like Hinata had been drinking Tenten's share of saké. Tenten walked calmly, completely sober, to Lee and greeted him and Hinata walked behind Tenten slowly; with intense concentration on her steps. Sakura discerned a slight wobble in her stance. The pink haired kunoichi decided to talk with her later. Maybe Sakura could finally pair up Naruto and Hinata? Hinata was a lot more talk active when drunk; so maybe she could be able to have a normal conversation with the Kyuubi container for once.

Kiba looked suspiciously on the drunk girl who had decided to sit next to him, which was a bit unusual. Sakura looked at him and giggled.

"Yo, Kiba! What's up, _dawg_?" Sakura giggled again. Kiba's suspicions were proven to be correct; she had made a terrible joke at his expense.

"Oi, Sakura! Don't drink my saké!" Sakura had gotten her hands on Kiba's bottle of saké and she was fast to take a huge gulp of it, then returned it unwillingly to the steaming Kiba. Sakura smiled though, and licked her lips teasingly as she looked at Kiba. Kiba gulped. What was she doing to him? Suddenly, Sakura looked down at her hands and her smile had vanished.

"Look, Kiba. If... What would you do if... You fought someone who was incredibly much stronger than you, and you lost horribly... What would you do?"

Sakura looked up from her hands and gazed seriously into Kiba's eyes. Sakura's emerald eyes flashed and she suddenly didn't seem so drunk anymore. Kiba decided to answer her seriously; he knew the answer to her question.

"Sakura... Well, If I lost like that, I'd just go get stronger, train my sorry ass off and then I'd have a rematch. I'd bite back." Kiba answered simply, while gnawing on something similar to a bone which Sakura didn't want to know the origin of,

"Oh. Bite back, huh..." Sakura mumbled; she was a bit taken aback. Suddenly, Ino stumbled right on to Sakura, hugging her from behind. Sakura felt Ino's breath at her neck; it stank of alcohol.

"Shitface, I don't feel so good..." Ino wailed. Sakura knew what was coming.

"Kiba, get out of the way." Sakura said as she took a hold of Ino and dragged her to the toilet stall. Ino sat in front of the toilet and refused to throw up, which Sakura knew she needed to do. Sakura sighed inwardly; she was too drunk for this herself.

"Sakura, I-I can't breath!" Ino stuttered and cried. Her mascara had smudged and her nose was red. Yet, as she cried, she still had a strangely appealing outlook.

"Yes, you can. Intake breath, outtake breath. In and out. Breath." Sakura comforted Ino with a soothing hand circulating soothingly on the Yamanaka's back. With a sudden twitch Ino hulked and put her head into the toilet. Sakura felt a lump of nausea rise in her throat, but she swallowed it back instantly. She would _not_ puke.

When Sakura and Ino went back to their friends, Shikamaru met Sakura and offered to take care of Ino instead.

"I think... I think I should go home, Shika-chan." Ino stated something so obvious and hung on to Shikamaru as if he was a life buoy. Shikamaru sighed involuntarily.

"Ino, you stink." Shikamaru said as he steered her steps out of Ichiraku's.

"You can stink, Shika-chan." Ino swiftly and cleverly countered while she stumbled out on the street with almost all of her weight on the male shinobi helping her.

"Oh _god_, not Shika-chan. Why are you so troublesome, Ino?" Shikamaru mumbled.

"Because, uhm... I think I like you, Shika-chan." That last sentence Ino blurted got Shikamaru quiet. Sakura, who stood at the doorstep, saw how Shikamaru's ears blushed a distinctive magenta colour. Everyone close to the door had heard Ino's drunk confession. Shikamaru stood straight and almost carried the staggering kunoichi away from Ichiraku's into the darkness of night.

"Oh, they're so getting it on, those two. It'd be nice though, with some action here as well..." Kiba jokingly said, clearly insinuating that something was bound to happen with Ino and Shikamaru when Sakura got back to find Hinata sitting with Kiba and Naruto. Hinata had several empty ceramic saké cups in front of her. Sakura looked suspiciously at Naruto who was as happy as ever. Sakura sat down besides Hinata.

"Yeah, you guys are really boring! Oh, hey Sakura. Do something fun for once." Kiba continued his rant. Hinata, being quite drunk, and as her shyness had seemingly blown out the window, drank her whole ceramic cup of saké in one go. Naruto watched with admire in his eyes, that was the strongest saké Ichiraku had to offer. The Hyuuga drank it like water.

"I really feel like kissing someone." She suddenly confessed while her eyes fluttered in a drunken daze. Kiba's eyes widened, Sakura laughed and Naruto's face blushed completely red. Kiba then offered his lips willingly, he pouted like a gold fish and closed his eyes as he neared Hinata's face. Naruto's face was stricken with horror and he couldn't even utter one word. Hinata then giggled teasingly, lightly pushing him away.

"Whoever said I'd kiss you, Kiba-san?" Hinata slurred and she turned around to face Sakura, greeted her with a flushed smile, and kissed her.

Sakura felt the world spin. She was really drunk, off the grids drunk. Sakura felt that deep down; she was kind of sexually frustrated. Sakura decided so she kissed Hinata back. Hinata was surprised, it had been meant as a joke - a friendly kiss at most, but as Sakura kissed Hinata so seductively in response, it was just so good, Hinata couldn't resist. It turned into a heated and intense kiss, with Sakura grabbing Hinata's delicate neck and Hinata gently stroke her fingers through Sakura's smooth pink hair.

Kiba and Naruto's eyes bulged, their faces turned into a blood like colour, Naruto's nose started to bleed at an alarm rate and drool suddenly started pouring out of both their mouths. Sakura let Hinata go and took a few deep breaths; it had been a long and passionate kiss. Sakura remembered; it had been a long time since she had kissed anyone, maybe half a year ago. Hinata blushed the same colour Naruto and Kiba's face displayed.

"S-sakura-san... You're very, uhm, very good at k-kissing..." Hinata stuttered and blushed even more, however that was humanly possible. Sakura smiled drunkedly with a faint blush on her cheeks as well. She used to get to hear that a lot, before she started taking her Medic training more seriously and stopped caring for her sexual needs. She had used to go out a lot with Ino, and a drunken Sakura on the loose...

She used to take advantage of the young men who came on to her, she had used them as substitutes for a certain young man with onyx eyes, eyes which easily could change into the black tomoes of the Sharingan. Every young man she had ever dated either had ruffled raven black hair, or a bleak and pale countenance, or eyes with darkness and sadness blended in them. It hadn't been any decent men she'd gone out with, when she only had followed the same appearance in pattern. She had also had three Seduction Missions, where she had seduced two men and one woman and extracted information from them during the sex; which was the vital point to the Seduction Mission. Sakura was not as innocent as she seemed. No shinobi ever was.

Naruto and Kiba suddenly came to as Sakura ordered another bottle of saké. The strongest one.

"Hey, please continue! No need to stop, right? Right?" Kiba and Naruto pleaded.

"Naruto, this isn't a Yuri story. It was just a kiss. Get over it." Sakura shrugged his suggestion off and drank from the bottle of saké placed in front of her. Hinata blushed even more and Naruto obviously pouted. Kiba giggled, as drunk as he was he had no control of himself. Sakura smiled; Kiba was such a lightweight.

"That looked interesting. Hm. Oi, Naruto!" Kiba slurred.

"What-"

Suddenly, Hinata and Sakura found Kiba kissing Naruto clumsily right on the mouth. Sakura burst out laughing, joined by the tingling, musical laughter from Hinata. As red chakra started to flare in the colours of anger and embarrassment, Sakura got up fast and separated the two male shinobi between her. Kiba giggled like a child, unaware of the murderous intent coming from Naruto.

"Kiba, teme...!" Naruto snarled, wiped his mouth furiously with the sleeve of his shirt and stared piercingly at the very much drunk dog-boy, his chakra's almost going out of control.

"Oh, the youthfulness blossoms!" A voice was heard in the bustling bar. The friends turned around to see Kakashi, Guy and Asuma come in.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Guy-sensei! _Dattebayo_, you're joining us as well?" Naruto shouted, it seemed he had completely forgotten his death dispute with Kiba, to everyone's instant relief. Sakura whispered in Kakashi's ear:  
"Thanks, you just saved the village from complete destruction. See, Kiba kissed Naruto. Naruto almost turned into the Nine-tails." Sakura giggled and Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked at Kiba and Naruto with an amused eye, who both seemed to have forgotten about the kiss completely.

"Is that so, Sakura-chan. If I may ask young lady, how much exactly have you been drinking?"

"Err. I do not intend to answer that question, sir." Sakura blushed. She still felt so small next to her former teacher. She felt like she knew nothing when his powerful presence was near; the Copy-Nin was after all wise beyond his years.

"I see. How are you feeling overall, Sakura-chan? I mean, the fight today was quite overwhelming and you were at the hospital for only about three hours." Kakashi looked with one concerned eye at the bandaged pinkette. Sakura shrugged and drank a bit from the ceramic cup.

"I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura bit off. She didn't want to think about the fight with Naruto. As if she had jinxed herself, Naruto clapped his hands, so Sakura turned her head to look at him.

"Oh, yeah! You all, listen up!" Naruto shouted, catching everyone's attention with a few words.

"Today, I came home from two and a half years of training with the pervert Jiraya. These past years I have been training a lot! It was hard, _dattebayo_. I've really missed all of you. And the first person I met when I arrived in Konoha was my former team mate, Sakura-chan." Naruto articulated his words with the help of his hands, waving them around excitedly. Sakura did not like where this was going.

"Sakura-chan, as beautiful as ever, said she wanted to fight me. I did this a bit unwillingly at first, but since she pressed the right spots, she succeeded in making me agree to it."

"And when we fought, I mean seriously, Sakura-chan has gotten so strong! It was a long time ago I met her and she's really changed. Her fists are deadly!" Naruto happily exclaimed and a few shinobi in the inn looked appraisingly at Sakura.

Sakura took a sudden intake of breath and tears threatened to start gathering in her eyes. Memories from the spar started to rush at her with an incredible speed. She remembered her feeling of weakness. She remembered everything from the Forest of Death. And she also remembered that she was _not strong._

She was always either being protected or she was just a mere hindrance to them, her two dearly beloved former team mates. _She wasn't strong enough. _She felt the darkness of her bitter despair and brooding angst attack her, she couldn't breath. It pressed on her lungs, it slithered down her throat and sank its teeth into her flesh and spread its poison of weakness and self-loathing through her veins. Exactly how she had felt during the spar.

How could Naruto spout such nonsense when he knew that it wasn't true? She was weaker than them, she was simply _weak_, and yet he dared to tell everyone otherwise?

"**You ****hypocrite****!**"

Sakura stood, trembling, with tears now finally streaming down her cheeks and she furrowed her eyebrows. Everyone stared at her. She felt their gazes, she felt the pity in the air like poison spreading heavily, she felt how they looked down as she stared right back at them. Naruto looked confused. What exactly had he said which would make her angry? This was not a funny angry Sakura, no, this Sakura... This Sakura expressed raw feelings. She opened up the whole of her emotion's spectre.

"S-sakura-chan?" Naruto whimpered meekly. Why was she so angry? Suddenly, Sakura turned around and burst out of the inn, leaving an awkward silence to loom in the otherwise so bustling bar.

"I'll go after her."

Naruto said with determination in his eyes. He never wanted to hurt her. People started to talk again and Kiba ordered another round of saké. Kakashi nodded towards Naruto, saying that it would be good to go after her. Kakashi turned to join the table where Guy and Asuma sat at. Just when Naruto was about to raise from the bar stool, Hinata turned to him. Naruto looked up at her, only to see a beautiful expression show on her face.

"It's your turn, Naruto-kun..."

She leaned in, slowly, and kissed him. Naruto's heart burst in a thousand pieces.

None came after Sakura.

Sakura walked the streets of a darker Konoha. The stars shimmered faintly and the moon lurked behind a few grey clouds, making silhouettes dance on the streets. Sakura dried her tears with her hand. She knew that Naruto had not meant to put it that way, she knew none of her weaknesses was Naruto's fault, yet she had gotten angry at him. Maybe she was jealous of his powers? But how could she justify her jealousy? She had never worked so hard as Naruto had. She had never had a goal like being the Hokage. She had never known the pain of loneliness. She had never known the suffering of not having any parents. His strength derived from his determination, perseverance and his constant volition of needing acceptance or approval from the villagers, none of which Sakura owned.

Sakura stopped walking. She didn't recognise this area. How long had she wandered? Sakura looked behind her and it seemed that she was in the outskirts of Konoha. In front of the pink haired girl loomed a huge dark mansion which was cast in the shadow of the cloud's hiding the moon. Sakura couldn't discern the clan symbol but the whole household looked very much abandoned. No, not just abandoned, the whole construction was in ruins. Sakura decided to take a closer look. When Sakura went inside, the moon broke from the clouds and shone clearly on the Clan symbol on the grand port. The symbol was that of the Uchiha Clan.

It was dark in the household and Sakura didn't really know what she was doing there. But there was something about the house that drove her further inside, into the brooding depths of the unknown Clan household. A few cracks in the ceiling let in shafts of moon light which made it easier for Sakura to discern the interior. Sakura saw a few black stains on the walls which seemed to sing a sad dirge, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know the origin of those stains. Sakura noticed something in the corner of her eye, she turned around and saw that a wallpaper hung loosely from the wall. The old wallpaper had been covering something; regarding the shape of it it looked like a door. A door hidden behind a wallpaper? Sakura wondered and it caught her attention immediately. She walked to the loose wallpaper and tore it away from the wall. A huge door appeared before her on the wall. Sakura tried the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. A few hand written ink signs had been brushes over the door; they seemed to function as a seal. Sakura smirked, the alcohol in her blood system seemed to have disappeared.

She knew many techniques in how to break a seal; after all, she had read every scroll there was about it in the Old Library of Konoha. Sakura made a few hand signs, her green chakra lit her hands up and discovered that it was an old, powerful seal surrounding the door. It was a dark maze, with a fog closing in on her and it felt like it swallowed her whole. This seal was indeed cast by someone strong. Sakura also noticed to her delight that it was a chakra control based kind of seal.

If she figured out how to make her chakra swirl in the right direction of the seal's labyrinth she'd be able to break it, her chances of doing so was even more positive as the seal was old and withered. Sakura concentrated hard, she started to pant and sweat dropped on her forehead. It was difficult, the dark maze of the seal almost trapped her inside, sucking her in to the darkness. Suddenly, she saw a light in the far distance within the seal, so she concentrated all of her chakra to meet up at that point. A powerful crackling noise was made and the seal was broken. The hand written signs over the door disappeared. Sakura fell on the floor from the exhaustion, a little more and she would have passed out.

Sakura wearily noticed that one of her bandages had gotten loose, so she bound it harder around her arm so it wouldn't come off again. Sakura sighed and slowly stood up, dusted herself off and tried the door handle. A soft crack was heard and she opened the door. A sudden darkness whooshed out of from the interior of the door; it went through Sakura with a chilling, old wind. Sakura shuddered. Yet she continued inside, her footsteps light on the oak floor, she felt on the wall next to her and found a candle as well as a few matches. She lit the old, unused candle and what met her gaze was astounding. Sakura's eyes flickered and shone dimly in the light of the candle.

Old scrolls overflowed the high walls, ancient books stood in high towering staples and the hundreds of shelves were declining over the weight of the dusty books. It was the biggest library Sakura had ever seen before in her life. She felt a tinge of joy inside her; this was the biggest treasure she had ever hoped to find. The knowledge within these walls could be almost infinite. Sakura almost ran with the flickering candle in her hand towards the middle of the library. She noted that the bookshelves was constructed to swirl around into focusing on the middle, it almost looked like a whirlpool of bookshelves; all concentrating the attention to the middle of the library. In the centre of the library Sakura found a single half moon shaped desk with a stool, it was made out of a fine quality of dark birch. Sakura saw something, a picture, on the half moon formed desk. The picture was in a glass-like thin container, with a delicate frame made out of silver linings.

She went to the desk, put the candle away and took the picture. Sakura took a sharp intake of breath as she realised whose Clan household this used to belong to. The picture displayed two raven haired boys, the other a little taller than the youngest boy. Both were smiling happily, especially the youngest boy. The taller boy had a bit longer hair which was tied in a knot and his features was what you could call handsome, and he seemed to ruffle the hair of the younger one who was very sweet. Sakura regarded the picture with care. The older boy seemed to be around the age of ten and his eyes were smiling lovingly, yet Sakura felt that the boy was wise beyond his years. The younger boy displayed a clear sense of innocence and he looked painfully and naively happy. As if his whole world was coated with the colours of love and happiness, unbeknownst of the horrible, bloody slaughter which was yet to come.

The picture displayed Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi. Suddenly, Sakura's grip tightened hard and the glass containing the picture shattered into a thousand pieces. Sakura clenched her teeth and looked angrily at the picture. Something glistened on her cheek. Without sobbing, without shuddering, tears fell from her emerald eyes. The drops reflected the light of the flickering candle in the dark library room, making them shine like drops of pure gold on her pale cheek. Sakura opened her clenched fist, only to find a crumbled piece of paper. Shards of glass was sticking out of her hand and the picture of the two brothers was flecked with her clear blood.

Sakura felt how the world as she knew it crumbled at her feet. Fleeting emotions of rage blinded her sight, emotions of regret; regret that she was not strong enough. Her whole being felt filthy, insubstantial, she submerged in the feeling of blood pouring down from her hands, the water of life left her willingly; eagerly running down her hand to create a small pool on the wooden floor.

She was wasting her tears.

Sasuke was lost to her.

Sakura let go of the crumbled picture, she let it fall to the floor, and turned around. She didn't dry her tears. They would be there as a proof of her weakness. Sakura shuffled towards one of the book shelves which seemed to have medic scrolls, but as she did she stumbled on something and almost fell to the ground. Sakura looked at the little scroll she had almost fallen over. As she picked it up, the scroll itself almost seemed to lighten up. Sakura flinched, but she didn't drop the scroll. Instead, she felt warmth spread from her fingers where she touched the paper arc. It was very peculiar, how comfortable she felt with the scroll in her hands.

She looked at the side of the scroll, it was named '_Ama-no-Iwato: The Light Seal - the Last Secret of the Kikyou Clan_'. The author of the scroll had scribbled something almost unreadable as the author's name, but it looked like the sign for '_Kaika_' which Sakura knew meant 'blossom'. The scroll intrigued her, so she put the odd scroll in her bag and as she did, something moved in the corner of her eye. Sakura froze. She wasn't alone. Was someone else there with her? She heard a small noise and decided it would be for the best to get the hell out of there.

Sakura was fast to blow out the candle and ran to the door, through the dark moonlit corridors of the fallen Uchiha Clan and out of the household. In the darkness of the ancient library a small shape became visible in the moonlight; a lone rat had succeeded in getting into the old library and had also succeeded in scaring the wits out of a seasoned kunoichi of Konoha. The rat felt prideful joy as it sprinted towards the books which looked truly delicious.

Sakura didn't stop at the entrance to the fallen Uchiha Clan's household, she continued to run through the streets until she got home; which was 15 minutes later. Sakura panted hard as she jumped into her bed, sweating a bit since she had still not been completely healed from her wounds. She didn't care to change clothes, she was too fatigued by the day's happenings to care. She snuggled into the comforts of the bed and looked out of her huge window only to see the moon slowly fall into the horizon and hear the awakening of the cicadas, who sang a song about the morning sunrise which was soon to come. _What a strange day_, Sakura thought before her eyes fell heavy and she wandered into sleep.

* * *

**xxXxXxXxx**

_"I can't seem to heal him. He will stay crippled if I try anymore than this. We need an experienced high level Medic Nin, quickly. He's dying..."_

_"I am aware of this fact, Kabuto."_

_"What about Tsunade? Her level of medical skills should be able to his heal his crippled body. She might be able to heal it back to how it was."_

_"Yes, Tsunade's medical ninjutsu should be able to do it. But... If we kidnap Tsunade, it will create a huge ruckus and it will also be hard to extract her from Konoha, what with the ANBU and the weakened state Sasuke is in... Also, Tsunade's strength is not to be underestimated. We may lose important team members if we try to kidnap Tsunade."_

_"I see. But... Orochimaru-sama, I know of one other exceptional Medic Nin that could be on the same level of skill as Tsunade. I extracted some information from a Sand nin by drugging him; I wanted information on the situation in Sunagakure, but the only thing the Sand nin talked about in his dream-like state was a girl who had surprised everyone in the village. Her medical skills were that of a prodigy. She had healed someone called Kankuro from Sasori's poisoning."_

_"Hm. Sasori's poison, you say. What is her name?"_

_"She is also the apprentice of Tsunade; her name is _Haruno Sakura_."_

**xxXxXxXxx**

* * *

**Hmm? So? What did you guys think? RR people!**

**I know it was a bit confusing in this chapter, sorry bruhs. And the last last lines.. Yeah, I jump a bit back and forth in time and occurrences. For example; Kankuro had a fight with Sasori when Akatsuki took Gaara away. That's when Sakura healed Kankuro.**

**So, hope you all enjoyed it either way!**

**Love,**

**Lovisa **


	4. Chapter 4 - Green Chakra

**Hey guys! **

**Sorry, I couldn't wait to post this chapter... Hehe. This one is the most exciting so far according to me. So I'm sorry, yet again, because the next chapter will take a longer time to produce. But please, bear with me!**

**_Enjoy_****!**

**Ps. I'm still searching for a partner in crime : a Super Beta Reader who would gladly fight off evil spelling mistakes and crooked sentences. Please PM! I'd love you to death.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

**The Green Chakra**

_Love is such a sweet, treacherous illusion_

* * *

She was trapped. There was no escape. Her vision was filled with two ruthless eyes staring at her, the man looking at her with a piercing gaze was covered in darkness; his features were shaded and the only thing that was seen of the man was his eyes. Those eyes... They were not onyx coloured anymore, the irises were red, with black tomoes spinning creepily around the pupil. Sakura felt coldness spread through her limbs. She was unable to move; it felt like her body was frozen in ice as if she would break if touched. The eyes continued to stare at her, they were bottomless. Sakura was entranced by them. They showed signs of being torn, ruthless and dark. They displayed a murderous killing intent; the need to kill her implied the sense of deliriousness in the man's eyes.

Suddenly, delicate long hands gripped Sakura's throat. Touching only at first, but then they hardened more and more. Sakura couldn't breath, she tried to form words but her lungs had no air left in them. A strangled, pleading and sad forming of words left her mouth;

_No, please, Sasuke-kun... _

Sakura sat up violently. She flinched as she recognised her bedroom and her own sweaty bed, her blue padded blanket lay resting on the floor; earlier flung there because of a sleeping violent shrug from Sakura. Something wet was streaming down her cheeks and she realised she was crying a river. Sakura had had a nightmare alright; about Sasuke's eyes, how tormented and dark they had seemed. How he had gripped his cold hands around her throat... Sakura gulped. She furiously wiped away her tears and clenched her teeth. She cursed, she was such a crybaby.

_Enough of this,_ she decided inwardly.

Sakura padded to the bathroom down the hall in the same clothes she had had the day before, put the water on and briskly splashed cold water on her face. Drops of icy water ran down her thin throat and gathered a bit on her delicate collarbone, to then run further down her body. Sakura looked into the mirror. Her face was smooth and heart shaped, yet there was dark circles around her green eyes which represented the lack of sleep and the fatigue from the fight with Naruto the day before. Her pink hair lay plastered around her face and Sakura noted critically how long it had gotten. She probably needed to cut those pink strands. Having long hair was no longer something Sakura desired. Sakura ripped off the patch which Tsunade had placed carefully on her right eye. The swollen eye had almost been healed now; she could see clearly from it. Her face was battered, yet her startling green eyes pierced the mirror with alien awareness.

Sakura peeled off her clothes and went into the shower. It felt nice to be scalded by the hot water running down her petite form. Sakura could spend hours in the shower, but not today. Today; she would change. She would get stronger, because she had decided. Sakura lathered herself with her soap which smelled like a fresh spring; cherry blossoms, known to her name. Sakura went out of the shower and dried her wet, dripping hair and then continued with her morning routines.

Sakura dressed herself in the usual red sleeveless top and beige skirt, with black short tights underneath. Her clothes made it far easier to move than that dress she had used to wear two years ago. Unfitting for a ninja, she had only cared about her appearance and to catch the impossible attention of a certain someone with dark onyx eyes. Sakura sighed at her former pathetic self. Such a nuisance she had been, an incredibly shallow and irritating nuisance at that. As a finishing touch, she dressed her hands with her old worn fingerless black gloves.

Sakura pulled on her black knee high boots with slight heels, they were surprisingly easy to move around in. As she stood up, she smiled at the morning sun when she arrived at the door's screen, looking out of the Haruno's garden which faced the forest, having forgotten completely the darkness of her nightmare. The Haruno's garden was beautiful, with pink hydrangeas hanging from empty spaces in a white tree roof, acting as supportive balks for the flowers and plants to bloom and grow on to the tree balk and later to hang from them; creating a beautiful scenery with flowers drooping from the roof. There was roses, sunflowers, mandevillas, carnations, peonies, coneflowers, dahlias, trellises, clematises, tulips, foxgloves, daffodils, camellias and many more flower species in the garden; it was her father Kizashi's pride. In the centre of the Haruno's garden there was a lone tree. The lone tree was the only plant in the entire garden which didn't bloom and it looked naked and lonely. Sakura looked at it and smiled, it was her father's favourite tree.

It was a cherry blossom tree and its time to bloom had yet to come.

The sun warmed the girl's skin and made her glow with renewed strength. The alcohol of the day before seemed to have no effect on the young shinobi, she was blessed with never having experienced a hangover. Sakura was tired of being the synonym of weakness. She had decided that morning that she would take a month's leave from the hospital, train by herself every day until her hands bled and she collapsed from exhaustion. She would get stronger, for her own sake as well as for everyone else's. Sakura slid the screen open and stepped off of the exterior wooden flooring out onto the soft, grassy floor of the garden. The grass was caressed by the soft wind and rippled like ocean waves. Sakura felt light on her feet as she turned her walking into running. She felt the wind fondle her rosy short hair and Sakura felt a tickle of happiness. She loved being surrounded by nature.

The sun shone starkly, unforgiving yet life-giving, on the mutated Forest of Death, creating shafts of light to fall on the greenery of the forest floor. Sakura rushed past the majestic Chuunin tower which was centred in the middle of the forest. The Chuunin tower was where she had arrived with Naruto and Sasuke so long ago during their exams, and she went deeper in the Forest of Death as she avoided deathly branches easily and swiftly jumped over fallen tree logs. She was near the training area now and she sped up, getting excited for her upcoming intense training.

Something flashed in the corner of her blurred vision, Sakura turned her head. Suddenly Sakura caught her breath as something solid hit her side with incredible force. Sakura was flung hard into a tree and the impact made her lose her breath and she coughed up blood. Sakura almost fell from the tree to the certain death on the ground, yet she regained her composure and jumped at a tree branch on the same tree she had crashed into.

Sakura's eyes filled with the vision of blood red and black scales weaving through the greenery. The thing with scales slithered through the trees with abnormal flexibility. It was a huge snake that had appeared and Sakura stated to herself that it had whipped its tail to make her crash into the tree. She swallowed and suddenly, Sakura couldn't move. She was paralysed as the snake's head slowly turned towards her. The snake's head was almost as big as her room. It's yellowish, sly eyes took in her posture, noticing Sakura's inability to move. Its intense glare and carnivorous expression made it look the most terrifying creature Sakura had ever happened upon. The slightly wounded kunoichi cringed as she felt something crawl on her leg. She was fast to look down only to witness several white snakes grovel on almost every inch of the branch she stood on. It was like a white, terrible, slithering nightmare.

But she knew this wasn't a dream; it was reality. And in this reality, white snakes the length of three metres or more slithered around her legs, hugging her tightly, constantly slithering upwards. Sakura tried to shrug the snakes off, but they were undisturbed by her efforts. A constant hiss was heard from the several snakes surrounding her, but the worst hiss came from the blood red huge snake in front of her. Sakura felt fear crumple her heart. She had never been a big fan of snakes. The gigantic snake seemed to anticipate something.

Sakura realised what it was far too late; the smaller snakes had immobilised her to the point where she couldn't even move her finger. The snakes had taken advantage of her fear and now, she was bound by snakes like they were ropes straining her body. The small snakes had succeeded in ensnarling her, sifting around her body and trapped her. Sakura couldn't even scream, the snakes pressed on her lungs, she felt scales slither across her skin and she just couldn't take this anymore. The huge snake suddenly opened it's humongous jaws and Sakura saw the razor sharp canine teeth drip with deadly poison. Sakura screeched in fear, she could breath, as the snake closed its jaw around her body and the white snakes covering her.

"No!" Sakura screamed as enormous teeth closed around her body.

Everything turned into a bloody, meaty darkness. Sakura tumbled around and hit her head against one of the snake's inner teeth. Sakura's mind was cast off balance and she knew she had gotten a concussion. That might not be the initial most dangerous threat at the moment though, Sakura thought as she was trapped in a huge snake's mouth. Without wanting to, Sakura slipped into unconsciousness in the coldness of the snake's interior.

Light blinded Sakura's eyes. Her weary eyes tried to blink the sleepiness away and as her vision cleared when she sat up, she noted that she had slept on compact earthy floor, what met her eyes surprised her and filled her with fear, a greater fear than the one she had bore for the huge snake with red and black scales. A snake who had supposedly eaten her. A tall and thin man with sickly white coloured skin stood in front of her. He had long, black hair and his eyes preyed on hers, they were yellow with a snake-like iris. The man noted she had woken up, seeing the pink haired medic flinch when their eyes met. Orochimaru smirked. Sakura caught her breath. His aura was frighteningly intimidating, it pressed down on her, a thick and seeping darkness surrounded him. His dark power completely overwhelmed Sakura and she knew she had no chance in hell in a fight against him. There was someone else standing beside Orochimaru, Sakura noted. It was a kunoichi with flaring red hair and thickly rimmed glasses. The red headed woman looked arrogantly at Sakura. The pink haired shinobi also noticed that the woman's arms were covered in bite marks. Sakura wrinkled her nose. Could someone who was a subordinate of Orochimaru have some kind of S&M interest? Suddenly, a voice hissed something unintelligible and Sakura realised it was Orochimaru addressing her. She felt cold sweat run down her back.

"Hello Haruno Sakura, apprentice of Tsunade; the Hokage of Konoha. I presume I am correct concerning your identity. I hope my snake Hebimaru did not hurt you all too much when delivering you to me. Anyway, I need you to heal someone for me. See, my Sasuke-kun here had a little dispute with his older brother. This dispute left him a bit... battered." Orochimaru watched as Sakura realised who he was; the Snake Sannin, where she was; an utterly unknown location and she was in heaps of danger, and she also realised who was lying on the mattress on the floor beside her. Sakura took a sharp intake of breath yet again. He was there. After so long, she could finally see him. But she had never expected their reunion to be like this. Sasuke was bleeding ominously, his body looked like it had been crushed by a mountain-like boulder and his closed eyes cried matted blood, crisp and smudgy around the eyes. Sakura watched his broken body with horror. He was a shell, his body lay almost lifeless on the mattress, and he breathed almost unnoticeably.

Orochimaru suddenly hindered her from rushing to Sasuke's side with a slight shake of his head, making his long raven black hair swirl down his shoulder. Sakura gulped, as he had just done one movement and she had felt like running away from him, but all the same... _Sasuke_.

Sakura glared at the snake sannin. He wouldn't let her pass? Now, really?

"Oh Kami! He's dying, can't you see? What did you bring me here for? Let me through, you... Sneaky snake pedophile bastard!" A white haired man who just had arrived couldn't hold himself and burst out laughing uncontrollably, Sakura saw shark-like teeth in his mouth and shuddered, but with one glance from Orochimaru the white haired man quietened. He gulped and knew Orochimaru would not take his insolence lightly. Orochimaru turned his unwanted attention from the white haired man to the Konoha Medic Nin.

"You are very childish, Haruno Sakura. I will not let you pass; as of yet. How do I make certain you will not kill my precious Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked the pink haired kunoichi while looking directly at her with yellow snake eyes which seemed to bore through her very soul. Sakura stuttered on her words, not being able to ensure she wouldn't kill him and looked miserably at her former bloody team mate. Sakura so dearly wanted to save him. She completely wiped her memories clean of how he had left her that moonlit night, all she could think about was saving him. The red headed woman glared at Sakura.

"She will not, Orochimaru-sama. Her chakra is green and soothing; she is a Medic Nin, trained to heal, not to kill. She's not a fighter, Orochimaru-sama, I don't think she's even a killer. Besides, I can feel she is attached to Sasuke in more than one way..." The red headed woman saucily declared.

Sakura blushed, from anger and embarrassment. This kunoichi could read chakras? Fuck it all.

"Fine, then. I trust your judgement of chakras, Karin. Hurry now Haruno, Sasuke is on the very verge." Sakura was let through and she rushed to Sasuke's side. Her face was struck with horror as she took in the damages of Sasuke's body. He had been mauled, blood was everywhere and pieces of bones peeked out of his flesh. He had a grave sword injury in his abdomen; the flesh surrounding it had darkened and looked infected. Sakura settled beside the almost unrecognisable body of the last Uchiha, put her hair up in a strained knot and started right off to heal his internal organs; which were oozing blood and drained life force. Sasuke's face was pale, too pale for Sakura's taste. He had lost so much blood. He had lost so much. He had lost the fight with his brother, he had lost his family and he had lost himself. He had lost Naruto. But what he never seemed to know... was that the bond of friendship is unbreakable. Sakura knew Naruto would welcome Sasuke with open arms if he ever decided to come back. Sakura wondered if she would do the same.

Sakura's brows furrowed with determination.

_I will save you._

Orochimaru, the white haired shark-like man and Karin regarded the Medic Nin; she was indeed the apprentice of Tsunade. Her calm composure, her steady hands and her focused emerald eyes all told of a high level professional as she calculated the damage done to Sasuke's body. She wasn't disturbed by Sasuke being half-naked either, which would not have been the case for a normal kunoichi; whose heart surely would have faltered at the sight.

It seems I've left Sasuke in reliable hands, Orochimaru thought. She would be able to heal his future body host to its functional, complete form, to Orochimaru's immense pleasure. He really craved the body of the Uchiha. Not in a perverted way, as the pink haired kunoichi seemed to think, he irritably pointed out to himself.

"Do you have blood transfusions available, Orochimaru? Type AB?" Sakura asked, with sudden authority in her voice. Orochimaru obeyed her, a bit unwillingly, and produced forth four litres of type AB blood in see-through plastic bags to Sakura. Sakura immediately started working with the medical equipment Orochimaru had prepared for her, she inserted needles in Sasuke and started the blood transfusion without problem.

Orochimaru, the white haired man and Karin disappeared along with Sakura's vision on the outward room, her sole focus lay on the man beneath her hands. As Sakura's professional mode was slowly tuning in, Sasuke's features changed into an unknown man whom she had no feelings for whatsoever; but she needed to save him. Sakura went into one of her trance like states, when she focused her whole soul on healing the wounded.

Sakura sweated. This was a hard case. The blood oozing from the patient's lung wouldn't stop; soon it would collapse. Sakura strained herself, she needed to concentrate. She had her hands moving all over the patient's body, for there were several other severe injuries. She had to heal at least five injuries at the same time. Suddenly, she felt how she got a chakra boost, something coming from her forehead made her stronger; it felt like she was about a hundred times stronger.

Sakura sighed, pressure leaving her shoulders as she succeeded in closing in the wound on the lung because of the new found power. Sakura lost the track of time and she didn't care if she needed nutrition herself; the most important part in her life at the moment was to heal the one who was hurt.

"_Hey_!"

Sakura was startled; someone had shouted in the middle of her medical treatment? Sakura felt anger sizzle inside her; the patient was not yet healed completely. It would just take some more hours... Suddenly, someone poked her back.

"Hey, you! Snap out of it! You've been healing Sasuke constantly for over ten hours. You need to take a break or you'll be the one we need to get to a medic."

"What? Sasuke?" Sakura was surprised. The one she had been healing was not just another patient; it was _Sasuke_. She had been so into her professional mode she had forgotten even where she was and who exactly she had been healing. Suddenly, the pink haired girl felt fatigue spread in her body, how her stomach growled for food and her eyes almost closed shut at the sudden realisation of how her own body felt. Who had taken her out of her healing trance? Sakura turned around to take a look at the man.

A tall man stood before her and held a bowl of steaming soup. The man had spiky, orange hair and a calm disposition. He wore black, loose pants and a tan shirt. The big man seemed surprised when Sakura turned around to see him.

"What's that on your forehead?" The big man asked worriedly as he gave her the bowl. He wondered if she had tried to call for help with some kind of jutsu.

"Huh?" Sakura wondered wearily. "It's just my forehead, I know it's big. So shut up." Sakura mumbled as she hesitantly took the bowl from the big man's hands.

"No, that's not what I meant. It wasn't there before, I know. It's a purple triangular symbol of some sort..."

"Huh? _Oh_. Right. It happened again. It will probably disappear soon though." And just as Sakura said it, The Strength of a Hundred Seal disappeared from the pink haired girl's forehead. She hadn't even noticed it.

"It's a jutsu which helps me heal better. Concentrating chakra, that is." Sakura continued.

The unknown man's expression was still worried, but instead of saying anything, he laid a yellowish and worn blanket on the ground besides Sasuke.

"You will sleep here. I'm sorry, it's not much of a bed, but Orochimaru didn't allow me to..."

"Oh, why thank you. I'm happy I have somewhere to sleep." Sakura smiled through her tiredness, showing the man a smile he hadn't seen before.

"It looks really comfy, so no need to apologise, man." Sakura said as she drank hungrily the soup offered to her, releasing the tension in her shoulders and appeasing her stomach as she did. The man had a puzzled expression on his face. Why was she so nice to him? Maybe she was gullible, or just bad at feeling chakras and didn't feel the intimidating aura surrounding him. He could snap at any moment.

"You can also use Sasuke's toilet. I'll come with food thrice a day from now, Orochimaru said to keep you healthy."

"Alright, alright, thank you. I didn't catch your name?" Sakura asked sleepily, noticing the colour of the man's eyes; they were coloured orange with tints of bloody red.

"It's Juugo. And I never said it." He presented himself warily.

"Oh, Juugo. Nice to meet you, then. I am glad you show kindness to a hostage, Juugo." Sakura said with her mouth full of soup. Juugo looked at the petite pinkette.

"It's nothing. I'll be going now, catch some sleep and try at it again in a few hours." Juugo said and walked with heavy steps out of the door. Juugo smelled the air as he was about to go out from the doorstep and suddenly noticed a difference. The smell from before and now; before Sasuke's room had reeked of death, blood, despair and darkness. Now, the atmosphere was somewhat different. It had smelled of freshness, cherry blossoms, warmth and life. It was a light smell, not an heavy odour as before, now it just seemed to enlighten everything inside the room. Juugo wondered what exactly that little pink haired girl was. Or what perfume she wore. And why she seemed to have frantically sprayed it everywhere inside the room. Juugo shrugged his shoulders, it didn't matter to him. It just left a lingering, good feeling in his nostrils. It was a nice smell.

Orochimaru appeared in the room a few minutes later and walked to stand beside Sakura as he looked at Sasuke. Without commenting on how much more peaceful the Uchiha looked in his before so anguished expression, and the sudden lack of bloody injuries and broken bones, the Snake Sannin said none of these things.

"This is but a precaution, since I know Sasuke would think of you as an enemy and surely try to kill you in case of him waking up. This is also for Sasuke's own safety; you need to finish healing him. I will know when Sasuke is completely healed, so you need not tell me."

Orochimaru bound Sasuke with chakra restraining ropes so that he wouldn't hurt Sakura as she was healing him or try to get up with a broken body to train.

Sakura nodded understandingly. Orochimaru looked at the tired girl. Her chakra levels were disturbingly low.

"Juugo is dangerous. You should not anger him. I don't need you to die." _Yet_, Sakura added morbidly but yet frighteningly realistically in her mind.

"What? Why's he dangerous? He was very pleasant when I spoke to him." Sakura wondered, still fearing the snake-like man beside her. She didn't like to leave her side exposed to this man.

"Juugo is mentally unstable. He is prey to sporadic and involuntary surges of rage. So stay out of his way and don't talk to him." Orochimaru's gaze slithered into her eyes. Sakura shivered.

"You're not really very nice." Sakura looked at the Snake Sannin with sad eyes. She was afraid of this man, yet she was not. She was just so tired, so tired...

"Focus on healing Sasuke rather than comment on my behaviour, girl." Orochimaru hissed calmly.

"Oh, I bet you experimented on Juugo so he turned out like this." Sakura accused the dangerous Snake Sannin. Sakura felt pity for Juugo, the big man who had seemed so nice. He had been the only one who had given her food, a blanket and some kind of kindness and social interaction.

"Yes, I was amazed by Juugo's ability to absorb natural energy. He did undergo various drastic physical alterations at the cost of his mental state. I devised the cursed seals by combining my Senjutsu chakra into mutative enzymes I isolated from Juugo's blood. There of Sasuke's cursed seal." Orochimaru declared arrogantly.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"But you should know, _girl_, that Juugo came to me on his own free will."

Orochimaru disappeared in an instant, leaving Sakura with a stunned look on her face beside Sasuke's limp, but healing, body.

Sakura regained her composure, shook off Orochimaru's remaining dark presence and decided to sleep for an hour, Sasuke's life was no longer on the verge of death and she really needed to replenish her chakra reserves. The Strength of a Hundred Seal had helped her preserve through ten hours of constant healing, but it had also worn her out explicitly. She tiredly laid down besides Sasuke and looked at his peaceful sleeping face. He was so painfully beautiful, yet she hated him deeply for having these heavy and tattered feelings for him. What had he ever done to her which made him deserve her affection? Sakura wondered angrily as she felt her eyes become heavier and heavier. Oh, that's right. He had saved her life countless times. Sakura remembered while something inside her ribcage pounded hard, as her consciousness drifted into a highly needed sleep; her last vision of the awake world was of Sasuke's angular features. As a last thought appeared in her mind she lost consciousness.

_He was my first childish and innocent love. _

She never regarded the thought of thinking of her love in a past tense form - _was_.

Sakura slept contently for exactly one hour, no minute more nor less; then she started healing Sasuke as intently as ever yet again. She still didn't know if what she did was right, she did in actuality help the enemy. Would it be seen as a traitorous thing by Konoha? Would she even get to Konoha? Sakura grimly thought. What she did was senseless, yet she healed him any way. Human compassion is a weak, flittering thing.

Juugo came with food and she barely touched it, concentrating too hard on healing Sasuke's abdomen. Juugo's face crinkled, Sakura's body was thin and her bones was quite visible underneath the pale complexion of her skin; her body was labeled with malnutrition. Juugo scowled at her.

"Eat."

Sakura snapped out of the healing process and ate the food obediently. Juugo almost smiled and went out, wondering why he cared for her health. Wondering why he had almost smiled.

On the second day, Sakura was almost finished with healing Sasuke, having done small shifts while sleeping, healing, eating, healing and bickering with Juugo. Sakura now wearily healed his knee; a wound which would have left him crippled if not for Sakura's superior medical knowledge. She knew how to reattach every nerve ending so it would function as it had before, maybe even a bit better. For another three hours Sakura spent solely on the knee; it took enormous detailed perception and carefulness to reattach the nerve endings. Sakura was almost happy Sasuke was in a coma, otherwise he would have screamed in pain as she worked on his knee. Sakura completed the knee at the exact second Karin suddenly came rushing in to Sakura's room, panting, as she opened the door wildly.

"Sakura-san! Suigetsu's hurt! Juugo went on a rampage... _Please_, come and heal him!" Karin burst out. Sakura was surprised. Karin's eyes were afraid, they were worried and lonely.

"Who is this Suigetsu?" Sakura wondered. She had no memory of his name.

"He's got white hair, you saw him before! But fuck it, hurry! He's bleeding and I don't know what to do..." Karin sobbed tearlessly, covering her face with her hands as she hulked. Sakura nodded.

"Very well. Lead me to him."

Sakura rose from her position besides Sasuke and followed Karin's running foot steps through the corridor. Karin made a few seals with her hands and Sakura was able to pass through the other door leading to another, darker corridor. Sakura hand't even noticed this precaution, a precaution cleverly set to not let her escape. A sealing jutsu made to probably electrocute her if she ever tried to pass through. Sakura had forgotten all about the concept of enemies; she was completely engulfed in her professional Medic Nin mode - anyone who was hurt was to be healed, the patients origins did not matter.

Sakura looked at Karin. This woman could be with Sasuke however much she wanted. She could train with him, eat with him, care for him... Sakura suddenly felt envy consume her, but she shrugged it away and let it slip off her mind. She no longer desired Sasuke.

"Karin-san...?" Sakura looked at Karin with empty, green eyes.

"What?" Karin snapped irritably. Sakura was surprised at her violent outburst as they ran through the corridor. She had displayed such worry moments ago, and now she just seemed... irritated?

"Sasuke-kun, he... He likes tomatoes. Just... so you know." Sakura said.

Karin looked astonished at the too trusting pinkette for a second, but then snorted, ignoring Sakura's statement.

"We're here. Hurry!"

As Sakura got to the door she was suddenly pushed in violently from behind into the room. Sakura had the time to turn her head to take a look at the perpetrator while falling; brown eyes gleamed mischievously through black rimmed glasses and red hair flared as the door slammed shut with a loud noise.

Sakura fell on the floor of the room. Suddenly, a hand was presented in front of her face. Sakura looked up from underneath her pink bangs and saw the white haired man Suigetsu stand before her. He had a worried expression on his face, which Sakura had not seen anyone display ever since she had gotten to Orochimaru's lair.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?" He asked her as he still offered his hand to her. Sakura ignored the hand and rose up, dusting herself off. She took in the whole of Suigetsu; he was hurt nowhere. He only wore a simple black yukata, which audaciously showed his very well developed abdominal muscles. Sakura looked away.

"I guess Juugo never really went on a rampage, now did he...?" Sakura sighed. Suigetsu's brows furrowed.

"No, he hasn't for a while now. How so?" Suigetsu pondered.

"Nah, I'm not sure why, but Karin said you were hurt. She looked really worried. " Suigetsu's eyes widened, then he smiled and showed his razor sharp teeth.

"And you came rushing to my aid? My, my. I'm happy you feel that way." He chuckled. Sakura looked at him, not comprehending. She gritted her teeth, starting to get annoyed with this white haired yet attractive shark man.

"I'm a _hostage_. I'm held against my will. Do you think I have anything to say in any matter here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Orochimaru was just a bit worried about his love interest,'s all." Sakura's eyes changed and in the next second she laughed. Suigetsu suddenly felt some kind of tingling sensation in his watery body when he watched her laugh with joy. He hadn't seen her laugh before. Her emerald eyes shone and a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks.

"Love interest? You see it that way as well?" Sakura blurted while she smiled jokingly. She needed something to take her mind off things, things she'd rather not think about... For example her dire situation as a hostage, the constant threat from Orochimaru, her fate when she was done healing Sasuke...

"Well... I'm not really sure, but with Orochimaru talking about Sasuke's body all the time; it is a bit disturbing." Suigetsu smiled.

"I couldn't agree more with you." Sakura sighed.

"Hey, maybe you'd like to hang out here for a bit? I'm kinda lonely." The white haired man pleaded. Sakura looked at a Suigetsu who tried to go for a puppy dog eye look, his eyes glittered and looked really pitiful. It worked, even though Sakura was a bit suspicious.

"Sure. But just for a short while, I need to attend to Sasuke soon and change the bandages."

"Absolutely."

Three hours later Sakura and Suigetsu looked at each other with scorn, standing in front of each other in the middle of the room. Sakura clenched her fist, while Suigetsu looked at Sakura with embarrassment and defiance in his expression.

"_Give me your body_." Sakura demanded, a look of determination and wanting in her eyes.

"No, I won't." Suigetsu answered, though a bit meekly.

"_Jussst do it._" Sakura said with a snake-like hissing as she closed in on Suigetsu. Suigetsu trembled lightly with fright. He raised his hands up in some kind of protective pose, shielding his body.

"No, Orochimaru-sama, no!" Suigetsu wailed with the hint of a smile on his lips as Sakura attacked him with a pillow she had found moments earlier.

"_Give it up, Sssssasuke-kuun!_" Sakura hissed while laughing and evading a pillow meant to hit her head. It turned into a serious pillow fight, with feathers spreading everywhere inside the room.

Sakura fell on the bed and finally breathed, she hadn't been able to breath before because she had been laughing too much, and Suigetsu found his moment.

"No more!" Sakura breathed. They had been drinking saké almost without pause for three hours. Sakura felt how drunk she had gotten, the world reeled and Sakura couldn't grasp if she was really lying down or not. Suigetsu jumped on the bed and stood above her, grinning mischievously.

"Now; it's my turn. Give me _your_ body." Suigetsu declared.

He got hold of Sakura's borrowed kimono and successfully almost ripped it off. He leaned in closer to her, hovering above her, noticing the shape of her body as he undressed her with his eyes. Sakura's face was blushed from the heavy drinking and Suigetsu had to confess to himself; she was strangely handsome. Sakura lay in the middle of the dark blue satin clothed bed, her fluffy pink hair was softly spread around her face, with white feathers scattered around her and the black kimono she wore was revealing a bit of her crural. She looked like an angel. Her fiercely green eyes spoke of willpower, her soft lips looked so inviting and her fine complexion drew him even nearer to her. Suigetsu breathed on her neck, making her shudder. The man neared Sakura's lips as he lightly touched her breast.

"Ngh." Sakura breathed. But then, she snapped.

Sakura was really drunk and really, just angry. She wouldn't allow him to do this. She suddenly grabbed hold of Suigetsu's shirt and violently pulled at him, sitting up on the bed, meeting his surprised gaze straight on. The missing nin from the Hidden Mist Village was baffled.

_This had never happened to him before_.

"And here I thought you were actually a decent person... Sui-sui, you deeply disappoint me!" Sui-sui had become Suigetsu's nickname through their drinking games of saké. Suigetsu was surprised as Sakura dropped him and slid away from him, but his hold of her kimono was not letting go so Sakura carelessly let it be left in his hand; she now stood only in her tights and a black binding covering her chest, panting hard. She almost looked feline, with her gracious evading technique and her angry eyes looked similar to a cat's alien green eyes.

"Sui-sui, I seriously won't forgive you for this!" Sakura hissed and at a frightening speed, she lit her hand up in green chakra flames and ran straight for the surprised man, she punched Suigetsu deep in the stomach which was followed up by a straight kick at his head from underneath.

Suigetsu coughed up blood blended with saliva, he had never felt such pain; he was made of water after all... Her chakra had somehow made him solid? Her control of chakra must be that of a genius. Suigetsu lay sprawled on the floor of his room, not moving an inch. Sakura briskly, even though a bit unsteadily, walked away from Suigetsu's chamber. Suigetsu was left to wonder what just had happened. He'd either way have to help Karin get to be alone with Sasuke while he's still immobile, as to return the favour she had done him. After all, Karin had helped him lure Sakura into his room.

Sakura staggered back to her room, or rather; Sasuke's room. As Sakura walked inside, she noticed the shape of Sasuke's sleeping face, which drew her near him unconsciously. Sakura observed him in a drunk daze. The flickering lights from the candles played with light on his beautiful features, his black long eye lashes rested and his lips were frustratingly inviting. Sakura suddenly recovered a forgotten feeling, long lost and abandoned, it came back with full force. Sakura's face blushed a pink colour and she staggered as she took in this feeling. This feeling... Sakura wobbled unsteadily.

And she accidentally fell on Sasuke. Head on. Sasuke was still asleep in a deep coma, so he didn't wake up. Sakura lay on top of him. Only now did Sakura notice that the nuke nin had no shirt on. Sakura's professional mind had now disappeared, along with the fact that a Medic was not shaken by the naked body. After all, she had dissected several parts of the shinobi body. She had seen all of the male body structure, she knew it by heart, knew every limb and nerve, every bone and every muscle. But this body before her agitated a feeling within her she had not felt when standing before any other half-naked man. Sasuke's bandaged and tattered body revealed his toned muscles, his very well developed six-pack, his broad shoulders and his perfect skin. He was a sleeping beauty. Sakura almost felt a nosebleed coming on as she lay on his body.

Sakura felt his hot, feverish body against hers and she just couldn't contain herself. It was all too much for her. He had left her, yet she felt this forgotten, abandoned, feeling... She touched the sleeping man's face gently, lightly removing black strands of hair from his face. She gently followed the outline of his lips with her fingers, they were so delicate and so intriguingly inviting... Sakura slowly bent her head down, supporting herself with one arm beside Sasuke, and she closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through her pink hair to avoid it from falling in her face. Without any consent from her sensibility, or from the man underneath her for that matter, she lightly brushed her own cerise lips against Sasuke's pale ones. They were surprisingly soft. She lightly, lightly pressed her lips down as she felt a thousand butterflies flutter in her stomach, she felt how her breathing fastened and she also felt how lost she was to him. Her heart was so out of grasp in this moment. It belonged, absolutely without her consent, to the man underneath her. A man who was also very much half-naked.

Sakura felt lightheaded, and she unknowingly let out her green, healing chakra from every pore in her body to the man below her. Her kiss transferred a strange light which was not green, this strange light had apparently huge healing powers as it was transferred into Sasuke's body, making his heart beat faster. Sakura had no idea. Sakura kissed Sasuke again, out of sheer pleasure. She would treasure this moment in her heart, always.

_Thump_

Movement was suddenly made underneath her. The lightest response to her lips, as if he spoke to her. Sakura gasped, bit down a bone-shrilling scream as she realised what she had done. She quickly jumped out of the bed and ran straight for the door. If Sasuke found out what she had done to him in his helpless state, she was sure her death by his hand would not be without terrifying eternal suffering.

_She had almost raped Sasuke! _She finally perceived the immorality of her action and was baffled by her amatory act towards the nuke nin. She wasn't any better than _Jiraya_ now. Sakura felt tears gather in her eyes as she searched for a door which would let her out of her misery, out of her annoying feelings and out of herself. She felt trapped in the corridor, the lights flashed before her eyes and she struggled to even stand straight. Sakura stopped at a door which caught her attention, it was coloured in black and had silver lined words engraved on it. Sakura didn't stop to see what exactly the words told of, instead she ran inside the room. The door slammed shut quietly and locked itself automatically, revealing the name which was engraved on it in the dim light of the corridor.

_Kabuto_

Sakura found that she was enveloped in darkness. She searched for a light switch but there was none to be found. It's very dark in the room, but she could feel that the reverberations from her light steps told of a big space. She heard, felt, how the door clicked shut and locked behind her. It was completely dark and she was locked inside a room she had no idea of what it was. For all she knew, this could be where Orochimaru resided. What had she done?

Suddenly, Sakura felt a freezing cold hand grip her shoulder. Sakura froze. The most unsettling thing about this situation she was in was that the cold hand which gripped her tightly, it was something odd about it... Sakura suddenly realised what it the oddity was; there was no pulse in the cold hand.

Whoever it was that gripped her shoulder wasn't alive.

* * *

**Hehe, a bit longer this one. And yeah, I'll take this again. **

**I jump a bit back in forth in time and occurrences. For example; Kankuro had a fight with Sasori when they took Gaara away. That's when Sakura healed Kankuro and this happened before Sakura was kidnapped. I also made Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo appear far earlier than in the manga, they are free to go around in Orochimaru's Northern lair. Orochimaru is in the middle of experimenting on them, so that's why. **

**I hope you y'all enjoyed this chapter! Hehe. **

**Love,  
Lovisa**


	5. Chapter 5 - Kaika Kikyou

**Chapter 5 **

**Kaika Kikyou**

_Thinking, dwelling, reminiscing..._

_Our past clearly defines something which was never meant to last._

* * *

"_Don't be afraid, child._"

A voice whispered like leaves rustling in the wind, crisp and cold yet it was sounding everywhere around her. Sakura jumped and freed herself from the cold hands grip on her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded to know while shivering, yet she courageously stood up against the dead creature. She wasn't used to seeing dead things move, even though she had read about it. She knew there were a few reincarnation summoning jutsus and the strongest one was the Edo Tensei. Sakura stretched out her hand, gulped, and lit her hand up with green chakra. The green light filled the spacious room, which seemed to be a laboratory, yet with strange coffin shaped boxes siding at the corners. But what met her eyes right in front of her made her gasp for breath and her green light wavered, making shadows flicker nervously in the laboratory room.

A woman stood in front of her, shining with the green light deriving from Sakura. And this woman; she was _beautiful_. She was the most beautiful woman Sakura ever had seen in her life. The woman had a heart shaped face and a pale yet smooth complexion, her white kimono flowed at her feet as she took one step away from the piercing green light. The kimono had a pattern made of flowers, growing flowers, and since Sakura knew a lot about flowers, she knew the black pattern on the kimono was displaying the Kikyou flower; bluebells. The woman's hair was like the reflection of the starkly lit moon, flowing like a silent waterfall down all the way to her knees; it was the colour of melting silver. And the woman's very green and seemingly endlessly deep eyes shimmered like dented emeralds in Sakura's chakra light. The only thing which disrupted the beautiful woman's countenance was the faintest of chinks in her skin and the apparent blackened eyeballs except for the green pupils; which Sakura knew from her knowledge derived from the hundreds of medical scrolls she had devoured, was a sign of the Edo Tensei. Sakura gulped. Was she going to die by the hand of this dead yet pretty woman?

"_Who am I? Child, I am the last Light of the Kikyou Clan and I am the daughter of the sun - I am Kaika Kikyou. I am your ancestor, Haruno Sakura. I was revived by Kabuto Yakushi with the Impure World Reincarnation summoning jutsu. I am the first one Kabuto Yakushi have ever succeeded in reviving. However, he has not as of yet succeeded in robbing me of my free will and he is not yet aware of my powers, still intact._"

"What? What nonsense are you spouting? Edo Tensei... What, I don't... That's a really powerful technique. When did you die? Or is that an impolite question...? Oh, and why did Kabuto revive you? Are you going to hurt me?" Sakura was confused and so she babbled away, things started to spin around in her head; not only from the alcohol, the stress, the non-existent chakra levels, her flustered and regrettable kiss with Sasuke and her constant fear of Orochimaru... She didn't know what to do anymore. The name Kaika... It reminded her of something she had once read, but she couldn't grasp the flickering memory, because memories started to gather in her head and create a chaotic cacophony of confusion.

"_I am from long times forgotten, and I will not hurt you, child._" The beautiful dead woman in front of Sakura swiftly evaded her question about why Kabuto had revived her. Sakura's face was absorbed in confusion.

"That seems kind of old. Wait. How did you know my name? Is this some kind of jutsu? Is Kabuto here?"

"_It is not. As I said earlier, I am your ancestor, Haruno Sakura. And Kabuto is having a meeting with Orochimaru at the moment; he does not know that I am able to move around_."

"Wait. I'm your descendant? Okay, I don't believe you. For example; your hair is silver coloured... mine is pink. What's your name? I know most of the history of my Haruno family and I don't recognise you. None in my family has had silver hair." Sakura slumped down on the ground. She was tired; tired of being used. Tired of not knowing. Tired of this dead woman talking nonsense to her.

"_I am Kaika Kikyou and derive from your father's side_." The woman told her as she swiftly walked to Sakura and sat down gracefully in front of Sakura, facing her with a smile. Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

"Dad's side of the family? But he was an orphan..." Sakura looked down at her hands.

"_Yes. His mother and father died while giving birth._" The woman calling herself Kaika said as she laid her hands in a meditational position. The pink haired kunoichi peeked at the dead woman through her bangs, which fell in front of her green eyes.

"Both died in child birth? It's not like my grandfather gave birth as well... Right?" Sakura tried to joke, though she was still confused.

"_No. Shall I endeavour you into the tale of you brethren ancestors, Haruno Sakura?_" The woman smiled an endearing smile, it was as if the dead woman was glowing. Sakura blinked.

"Sure. It's not like I can walk away from here since I'm locked up in here. And I'll probably be killed by Sasuke when he wakes up anyway." Sakura said sarcastically as she made herself comfortable. The woman closed her eyes and she seemed to fall into her dreams of memories.

"_I once fell in love with a shinobi from the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha only married within the Clan, to keep their lineage pure, so our love for one another was strictly forbidden. Yet, we married and I gave birth to three children. Two of them looked so much like their father, but the youngest son I bore had the looks of a Kikyou with silver light hair and green eyes. My youngest son was the only one who didn't achieve the Sharingan. Both my Clan the Kikyou, and my husband's Clan the Uchiha, cursed us but they did not turn their backs on us. That is, me and my husband were the strongest, the most powerful within both our Clans. He had the Mangekyou activated always, he was that strong, and I had the cherry blossom tattoo of Light, which means I was the One of Light. The One of Light bears a cherry blossom tattoo seal which looks like a single petal at the place of solar plexus on the body and as the Light Seal is released, the tattoo blossoms into a flower. The tattoo seal's purpose is to restrain the power of light within the body. A child born with this seal contains an actual ray of light inside the body. Long ago, the Kikyou Clan succeeded in catching a ray of the sun itself. They sealed the ray of light into their strongest ninja warrior and ever since then, once every 700 years or so, a child is born with this enormous chakra of the sun. I was the one blessed with the Light Seal. When the seal is released; the One of Light simply turns into light and is the strongest creature there is. But the one who bears the Seal of Light is doomed to die at an early age, because the sun in the body slowly burns her flesh from the inside until it reaches the skin. The one who bears the Light Seal will then explode like a sun explodes, and she will become a fallen star. That was my fate._

"_My eldest child grew up playing with a Senjuu child I had seen several times at ceremonial occasions with other Clans. The Senjuu child was called always gleeful and full of happiness as well as clumsiness. My husband strictly opposed the idea of them playing, but I did not. One time, I followed my eldest child as he went to see his friend. I caught up with them when they had started playing. I started teaching them the art of the ninja, and they followed me without question. Already back then, I had started to feel the disturbances of my body temperature. I knew it would all soon come to an end._

"_Once when I was teaching my child and the Senjuu child a new technique I had come up with, I called it the Chidori, I suddenly felt my heart turn into fire. My time had come. I called out to my child and the Senjuu child to take cover far away. They had seemed to be contemplating whether they should go to me and help or follow my orders. As I didn't want them to witness when I turned into light, I used my Burning Voice to order them, no matter what they thought, to run away._

"_I saw the children react instantly, as they disappeared into the woods, and I saw in their eyes that they were scared. My body simultaneously turned into flames, I felt the pain licking me, flesh ripping, the fire burned me up. My enormous chakra couldn't be contained in this body of human flesh. This was the destiny of the child with the Cherry Blossom Tattoo. The light flooded from my solar plexus and lit up the sky. The ray of light returned to the sun._

"_Later, as I had dispersed in my own chakra, I found myself as the light itself. All I could think of was the welfare of my family so I followed them. I found that my child blamed his now former friend, the Senjuu child, for everything - for my death. My husband felt the same way and hated the Senjuu ever after my passing. My second child was nowhere to be found, wherever I searched. Hate started to consume the Uchihas. I cried to them, but they couldn't hear me. They were deaf to my callings and blind to the truth._

_"It has been many years since I walked on this earth... But yet, I know. My son is not dead as of today. I can feel it. I can also feel the hatred he bears for this world... Oh, my little child. What happened to you?" The dead body of Kaika mumbled silently to herself, and Sakura felt that the woman would've cried if she could. Then the dead woman named Kaika regained her posture and started telling the story of Sakura's supposed bloodline limit, the Kikyou Clan, and its fate._

_"My first son began to rampage the world, he destroyed and he fought vigilantly his former Senjuu friends. He even looked at the Kikyou Clan with disgust. My family Clan, the Kikyou, opposed my son for his behaviour. My Kikyou Clan had been so peaceful for so long, but when they opposed my eldest son, they were prepared. My son knew they were incredibly strong and they could gather many powerful allies - he knew he would lose to them, so he contacted the only Kikyou member who also bore hatred in his heart. Kato Kikyou, my cousin, planned an attack on the Kikyou Clan together with my son. My eldest son and my cousin slaughtered the whole of the Kikyou household while they were asleep, slaughtering every single Clan member; the young and the old alike - none was spared. My cousin murdered his own sister Kanda, who had taken the position of Headmaster from him, in cold blood. Kato had been denied the position of Headmaster because of his irrational behaviour, alcohol habits, aggressiveness and his murderous intent. _

_"What I noticed then was when Kato murdered Kanda was that she did not shed a single tear. She had not struggled, her green eyes had showed no signs of fear, of terror. She had let his brother grab his hands around her slender throat and strangle her to death. Kato realised this as well in the moment of her death. He knew that she was stronger than him. She had always cared for him, yet their father had always favoured her instead. _

_"I followed Kato as he ran away from my eldest son, who continued his war on the world. Kato hid in a far away village where he contemplated for his sins. He wanted to make it right, he wanted to revive the Kikyou Clan by raising a heir in the Kikyou Clan's teachings. Kato met a girl in the village. I never caught her name when I watched them. This girl had red hair and black eyes, they were like abysses swallowing you wholly. Kato fell in love with those eternally black eyes. Kato and the girl spent a year together. One day, I found the girl crying alone in her house. I realised she was pregnant. I saw the troubled look in her face, how her emotions fought each other and I was really confused. _

_"Each time I had realised I was pregnant with either of my sons I had cried out of happiness. This girl did not cry out of happiness. Kato didn't know of her breakdown, but she shared the news with him enthusiastically and tears fell from his Kato's eyes for the first time in his life. He was indescribably happy. He was going to be a father._

_"One day, close to when the girl would give birth, she took Kato to the forest where they had first met. She took his hand and walked with him without saying a word. Kato reminded himself to pray for those he had slaughtered in the Kikyou Massacre later; that day was the anniversary. Then the girl he loved revealed something I myself had suspected and I was overcome by the sadness and grief felt in the air surrounding the girl ._

_"The red haired girl with black abyss eyes confessed that she had been married once, to a man called Kou Kikyou, who had been murdered in the Kikyou Clan Massacre. He had been slaughtered by Kato himself. Kato sluggishly remembered Kou Kikyou, he had been the love interest of his sister Kanda for many years. Kou had married this girl? The one girl he loved had loved another?_

_"Kou Kikyou had died by Kato Kikyou's own bloody hands. In that moment I witnessed as it dawned upon Kato that the girl had only pretended to love him and had had in mind to kill him all that time, as he had killed her loved one. Kato was stunned, shocked and heartbroken, so when the pink haired kunoichi suddenly held a kunai pressed at his throat he had no time to react. The girl held the kunai tightly and confessed the love she had grown for him during her stay. Her intention in the beginning had been to make him fall in love with her and then kill him, to make him feel what she had felt when she had found her husband's lifeless body. But after their two years together, she had grown to love him. Kato cried silently. _

_"Still, the red haired girl cried quietly as she slit Kato's throat with her kunai and therefore ended his life. Then she took the kunai and brought it to her own heart, where the blade sliced it open and all of her blood and love poured out in the dirt of the forest. I cried for them, for their love and pain._

_"When their bodies were found a day later, a baby was miraculously born from the dead woman's body. The later orphaned boy was called Kizashi, he had extremely green eyes and magenta coloured hair, with shimmers of light strands. Kizashi grew up isolated from the world in the northern village, with the village's librarian as a mother to him. Kizashi was never given a last-name._

_"My cousin's son excelled in his studies and became a Professor in Chakra Techniques and its Source at the university in the northern village, at the young age of 22. He had invented a special breathing technique which eased the control of the chakra, which I approved highly of. A kunoichi who was a transfer student there was named Mebuki Haruno, also known as Mebi. She was violent and had a temper of its own, she did whatever she wanted but still had a gentle side to her. All the same, as love has no boundaries, Kizashi fell in love with her. _

_"For a long time Mebuki ignored him and called him annoying. I felt nostalgic when I watched them, reminded of how it was when I fell in love with my former husband. When Kizashi still openly admired her, Mebuki gave him a chance. Kizashi surprised Mebuki with his incredible intellect and his wit. She found he had humour and when his glasses was roughly taken off, he was beautiful. After university on Mebuki's part, Mebuki and Kizashi married and they both decided that the ninja way was nothing for them, so they became civilians. They went to Mebuki's ninja family in Konohagakure. Her family - the quite small Haruno clan, was disappointed she had chosen to be a civilian because her family had been ninja's for generations, but they accepted it and welcomed Kizashi with open arms._

"_Kizashi Haruno and Mebuki Haruno then gave birth to Sakura Haruno._"

Sakura couldn't believe her, this dead woman calling herself Kaika. Sakura stared at the dead but beautiful silver haired woman who stood before her. The Kikyou Clan? A Clan massacre, like the Uchiha Clan? A tragic and painful love story? Her father Kizashi? She was actually a member of a wiped out Clan called the Kikyou? Sakura almost passed out. She needed to sort this through. Her grandfather had killed her grandmother's lover? And her grandmother had killed her grandfather for her former lover, but had still loved him?

"What are you talking about? I'm just a Haruno, from a civilian family... Not... I'm not a descendant of this... this Kikyou Clan, damn it! You're simply lying to me, because I have never heard of them either."

"_Sakura, you are not just a Haruno. Your rightful name is Sakura Kikyou, in regard of the Kikyou being in possession of an ancient and superior bloodline limit in regard to the Haruno Clan. Your Kikyou lineage is one of the most intricate and exquisite lineages there is, child. Be proud of it._"

"You're _lying_." Sakura spat.

"_Why would I? What would my reason be to lie to you?_" Kaika rationally and reasonably asked the confused, angry and scared little pink haired girl.

"I-I don't know!" Sakura stuttered and felt panic rising in her throat. What was this woman talking about? Kikyou? Sakura Kikyou? Sakura almost let out a small hysterical laugh.

"_Please, calm down dear. Simply accept your lineage for what it is._" Kaika looked at Sakura and then seemed to realise something, she gazed at Sakura in a new light. "_Oh, I see. You cannot associate yourself with a strong lineage, because according to you, it doesn't fit the picture. You associate yourself with weakness. That is the reason you cannot accept your own strength... You cannot accept that you belong to an ancient and noble lineage. You cannot accept the fact that this lineage could make you strong. Because you don't see yourself as such._" Sakura seemed to have regained her composure and looked seriously at the dead woman called Kaika.

"What difference would it make, truly? My lineage, if what you're saying is indeed true, means nothing to me. I'm just not that person who is strong, that's not my way; it'd not meant for me. I am the one who heals. So, it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter that I have a lineage; because it has never shown. I'm weak. So just.. shut up." Sakura cringed at her own words. She almost felt how her heart ripped into shreds. She never wanted to stand at the side, she never wanted them to watch her back... She had always wanted to stand equally besides them; in battle, she would fight with them. But that had never come true. She had been destined to be a Medic Nin; and no more and no less than that.

Kaika watched her calmly and with piercing green eyes. Sakura winced and continued her rant with something entirely different. She didn't need a dead woman's pity.

"I mean, my grandmother and grandfather, their sad story, I... No, actually, that's it. I don't believe a shit you say. Go fuck yourself." Sakura growled. She didn't know herself how she dared to growl at a dead person who could move.

"_Language, dear._" Kaika pointed out to the young kunoichi.

Kaika suddenly snapped her head. It seemed like she had heard something, but the walls surrounding the Edo Tensei room was concrete and 5"9 foot thick. How could she have heard anything at all from the outside?

"_There is a man outside of this door whom talks of disposing of a Medic Nin. May that be you, Haruno Sakura?_" Kaika's expression was serious.

"Oh, shit." Sakura cursed. "Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke is completely healed. I think I need to escape from here."

"_Then I will help you, dear._"

"Why? How? Why would you help me?" Sakura watched her with verdant eyes, similar to the colour Kaika bore.

"_Because I find you interesting, little one. And you are, after all, my descendant._"

"But how? I don't even know where I am!" Sakura despaired. She had never felt as trapped.

"_I have a transportation jutsu which will bring you to one place only. It will work, though you may have a bit to travel to Konohagakure..._"

"Whatever! Just as long as I get away from here. I know Orochimaru either will just kill me off... or use me for some kind of experiment. Ugh. I just want to get out of here and report this whole thing to Tsunade-sama."

"_Tsunade? Is that one a descendent of the Senjuu?_"

"Yeah, she is. A saké drinking, boisterous woman who is very demanding, yet she is sensible and a loving teacher. She must be worried about me..." Sakura dreaded the moment when she'd come back to Konoha, to be met by the wrath and worry of the Hokage.  
"_Oh. How amusing, a descendent of my child's friend is this time's current Hokage..._" Kaika mused. She shook her head and looked at Sakura.

"_Come now. I will perform the jutsu. We will waste no time._"  
"Where will I end up?" Sakura asked while searching for weapons to bring with her. She found a few scalpels and a few big knives, made for cutting up corpses probably. Sakura grimaced at the thought of Kabuto using these medical equipments for his sick experiments. Theses scalpels and knives... they would do. Kaika walked graciously behind her, observing what kind of weapons Sakura decided to take with her.

"_The Kikyou Clan household. Or, whatever is left of the household._" Kaika smiled sadly.

Kaika sat down with her legs crossed as she started to prepare the transportation jutsu in a spacious place between some dissection tables while Sakura watched her. The pink haired kunoichi sighed and cracked her joints. Her chakra levels was a bit higher than before; she could handle a transportation jutsu now.

"Hey... Thank you for helping me, Kaika-san. I have a lot to process after this, I need to confirm your story and... and... I'm sorry for my bad mouth." Sakura said lowly.

Kaika was surprised, then laughed. It was a beautiful laugh. Even though she was dead, she could produce such laugh from her lungs... It sounded like cicadas chirping, singing a silver clinging musical tone, appropriate for a beautiful woman such as her.

"_Dear little one, you are forgiven. I hope you will continue to live happily._" Kaika smiled and her silver hair hung lightly on her back, gathering on the floor like a pool of silver light threads.

"That's not going to happen, sorry." Sakura laughed. "The ninja way is not a happy one."

"_Little one, that depends entirely on you. It is what you make it._" Kaika said as she spread seals on the floor, making a star shaped seal form.

"Not if Sasuke has anything to say about it..." Sakura growled quietly to herself. However, the dead woman had heard.

"_Sasuke? Is that your love interest mayhaps?_"  
"No! No, I mean, he was, but, it's like... I just, I don't even... It's pointless now, because he's, but..." Sakura blushed with anger and sadness in her eyes, remembering every action Sasuke had ever done to her. She hated him for having put the curse of love on her. She cursed him for her pointless love and the constant waste of her tears for him. He didn't deserve them; for he did not care for them, she recalled from that night he had left her.

"_Calm, child, calm! Dear, I see it clearly_." Kaika chuckled.

"No, it's not like that. What I mean is... I just want to save him. Mostly from himself. For Naruto's sake... and maybe for my sake as well." Sakura confessed as she bit her lower lip and looked down at her feet.

"_You need to be strong to do that, dear. What Clan is he from?_" The dead woman wondered, waiting to perform another seal; the last seal which would transport her away from Orochimaru's lair.

"You might find this a bit funny, Kaika. But, well, his last name is Uchiha." Sakura said and smiled.

Kaika was taken aback. She looked at the pinkette in a new light.

"_I though a sensible girl like you would not fall for an Uchiha, of all things._"

"What about yourself then? If what you said was true, you married an Uchiha."

"_Well, I was not a sensible girl, but a girl in love... Oh, how can I blame you, when I am just as bad myself..._"

Sakura walked into the middle of the star shaped seals. She nodded her head towards Kaika Kikyou, her ancestor.

"I'm ready."

"_Farewell, Haruno Sakura. I hope you find your way back to Konoha_."

"Goodbye. And thank you so much, Kaika-san. I owe you."

In a sudden illuminating light Kaika Kikyou formed the last seal and Sakura dissolved and disappeared; she was gone.

**xxXxXxXxx**

"How did she succeed in escaping? It shouldn't be impossible!"

"We need to relocate, and soon at that. Tsunade will know of our position in no time."

"Should we dispatch some Otogakure nin after the Medic?"

"Of course. Kill them if they fail in catching her. Inform them of this statement as well. And put Karin amongst them as well, her chakra discerning ability will come well in hand."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. Do you prefer the Medic Nin dead or alive?"

"It doesn't matter." Orochimaru snapped. He was tired and he had not expected the Medic nin to be able to escape; especially since she was exhausted from the draining of her chakra into Sasuke. When he had seen her skulking, small figure it had almost looked like she was exchanging the light of her life into Sasuke's healed body, the green flickering chakra light in her hands seeping into Sasuke's bones. Still, she must be exhausted beyond her senses, Orochimaru stated. She had barely slept at all and had almost eaten nothing. She couldn't have gotten far. Suddenly, Kabuto rushed in through the door the meeting room. He was sweating, Orochimaru could see. Anger started to grow in Orochimaru's stomach; if Kabuto came with bad new, he would surely have to kill something to appease his anger. Kabuto bowed quickly before his master and then stood straight.

"Orochimaru-sama. I need to admit something; I have been experimenting a bit on my own... And I succeeded in reviving a dead, old kunoichi." Kabuto stuttered. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, which was enough to make Kabuto swallow loudly.

"What? Kabuto. Have you put a restraint on this revived kunoichi? I do dearly hope that she doesn't have a free will of her own." Orochimaru asked with a hissing noise; he was too similar to a snake when he spoke like that. It was like he could suddenly snap his jaws open, display white sharp teeth dripping with deadly poison and devour Kabuto wholly. That was the intimidating aura Orochimaru displayed, even to his underlings.

"No, I think I succeeded, she seemed obedient enough..." Kabuto trailed off.

"Who exactly did you revive, Kabuto? Is it a powerful one?" Orochimaru hissed, his temper was on the very verge. Kabuto trembled with fear as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"... I succeeded in reviving Kaika Kikyou with the Edo Tensei. She was the Clan's Leader of the now non-existent Kikyou Clan, wife to Uchiha Tajima. She was also the mother of Uchiha Rin, Uchiha Izuna and... **Uchiha Madara**, sir."

**xxXxXxXxx**

A raven haired revenger awakened with a light tingling sensation on his lips. He slowly rose to a sitting position and looked down to his bandaged body. To his slight surprise, his whole body was healed underneath the thick bandages, the before loose tissue had been sculpted to fasten again at his body and even old scars had been polished away. The powerful man felt a strange light spreading inside him, through his limbs and muscles, through his nerves and bones; and through his dark heart. The shinobi looked fascinated at his knee; which had been completely obliterated before but now looked untouched. His brother had crushed it with one simple taijutsu kick... The man clenched his fist; he didn't want to think of his dreadful fight with his brother, he'd only drown deeper in his despair. The man bent the knee a bit, and to his surprise he felt the limbs agree too his will instantly. It had been healed with utter care. Someone with exquisitely high medical skills had healed him - and it hadn't been Kabuto nor Karin, he would have felt their chakras on him and their level of skill didn't reach this high. The man wondered matter-of-factly who Orochimaru had gotten to heal him. Possibilities ran through his head and it fell on one option: The Hokage of Konoha - Tsunade. The intimidating man mused. Konoha must be in chaos by now, because Orochimaru would surely have disposed of Tsunade after she had finished healing him. He felt some kind of relief in that. If that was what had happened... Even though the healing chakra was oddly familiar to him, he pushed it away. He didn't care. He needed to train with Orochimaru; such waste of time laying here.

The red headed annoyance didn't knock on his door and came tripping inside to his room as she squealed happily that he was finally awake and gave him a plate of food, as she snickered smugly. It was omusubi with okaka and... tomatoes? The dark haired man stared at the plate.

"What is this?"

The coldness in his eyes clashed with the gleeful girl, questioning her without actually saying anything. It was all in his eyes, the red haired woman saw it, he wondered how she knew he preferred this dish to others. The kunoichi with glasses just smiled happily as she thought of that annoying medic nin, she had proved to of more use than just healing her dear Sasuke-kun, after all.

"It's omusubi with okaka and your favourite; tomatoes! Oh, I know everything you like! Even that dish. And of course the tomatoes. Oh, after all,_ I also know you like me_." The woman said seductively while taking off her glasses, to bite a bit sexily on the rim. The coldhearted man stared emotionlessly at the red haired kunoichi until the woman twitched uncomfortably. The silence he pressed on her almost made her choke.

"Deep, deep inside. Somewhere. Err, you hide it well. Whatever, enjoy your meal." The kunoichi stuttered and stiffly walked away, blushing.

The man with the cursed eyes looked down at the dish which had been placed in front of him. It was a ball of hot rice wrapped in nori, omusubi, and there was dried bonito flakes at the side; the okaka. The man's gaze wandered over the dish and stopped at the sight of the tomatoes. It had been a long, long time since he had eaten this dish. He picked up the chopsticks and carefully ate a tomato. Emotionlessly he chewed and noticed that he had almost smiled. Those delicious red, little round vegetables... What they could do to a person, the man called Sasuke Uchiha mused.

**xxXxXxXxx**

* * *

**Hey ho peeps! **  
**Sorry for my sudden burst of OC's. But I hope you'll get used to it, some more are to appear in the future... Mehehe.**

**A little glossary:**

**Kaika - Blossom**  
**Kikyou - Bluebell**

**PLEAAAASE REVIEWWW AND I WILL ALWAYS LOOOVE YOUU **

**Love,  
Lovisa**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Freckle

**Chapter 6 - The Freckle**

* * *

_See, I have been poisoned by a cerise butterfly_

_Because I have been killing butterflies_

_See, I bow to an insect_

* * *

Pink eye lashes fluttered uneasily and so the kunoichi awoke slowly, in the midst of a slight summer breeze, shafts of murky light falling gently on her face and thereby letting her unusual light pink hair shimmer in the weak sun light. The girl noticed she had been sleeping on a dusty white, cold and dew covered marble clad floor with slight cracks in the marble streaming in circles; like spider web the chinks folded around themselves. The light falling on the floor was a queer green colour, it was as if a tree covered the sun above her. Sakura shifted her gaze upwards from the floor and craned her neck, because she found her surroundings strange; she lay on marble floor yet she felt like she had been sleeping in a musty forest clearing.

Sakura now saw that she lay in the midst of a huge round shaped room with fallen ravaged walls and there was crevices dancing in the former so fine construction, what met her eyes as they went further up she saw a dome-like ceiling which was withering with age. The glass cupola had splinters of different coloured remnants of bits of glass remaining in some parts of the patterns in the roof, letting the sunshine flood through which created colours to make mirroring rainbows and swirling colours dance on the cold marble floor. The pattern seemed to have been supposed to create a symbol of some sort. Sakura pondered for a while, creating different patterns in her head to fit the old pieces still intact, and suddenly she realised what it was. The coloured glass patterns in the cupola had been a symbol of the Clan Kikyou; bluebell flowers. It was three twigs that spread in different directions, one twig straight in the middle and the other two pointing sideways. It was a beautiful symmetrical pattern, Sakura reckoned as she discovered what the old symbol would have looked like.

There were weeds hanging out of the glass cupola and the walls were covered in greenery, some marble statues situated at the round sides of the dome seemed to represent shinobi of old, and they were completely entangled with the forest growth - unknown huge flowers and branches of nearby trees strangled the shinobi's necks, waists and wrists.

Nature had taken its green hold on the magnificent Kikyou Clan's abandoned, thrashed, ravaged, destroyed and so pitifully forgotten former beautiful household. The aura of sadness clad this household in a murky and light-demanding demeanour worthy of its tragic history; which was filled with silent screams and seas of innocent blood unseen. These formidable weed-filled ruins had once been a renowned Clan's household, Sakura imagined it had been filled with life and talking, with gleeful yet mischievous children playing in the garden, with running feet padding against the smooth surface of the marble floor in the halls, the assistants rushing to accomplish an assignment... The Clan had never deserved their bloody fate. This Kikyou Clan, which she supposedly was a descendent of, had never been told of in the history books Sakura had gone though in the Academy. She had never heard of the Clan before the dead woman Kaika Kikyou had told her of her ancestors. She shrugged and decided it was not the time to think about it; she'd research it when she got back to Konoha.

Sakura drew in a deep breath of the musky air which was filled with the scent of fresh leaves and dew dripping flowers. It was an enormous relief to breath in this air of nature. All the tension in her rigid shoulders disappeared, she relaxed her body and lay still, as if meditating while laying flat on her back. She heavily breathed the oxygen filled air with appreciation, she greedily filled her lungs with the soothing air until they felt like they were about to burst.

The whole household bore a certain sadness to it, yet Sakura felt strangely at peace here. She felt like she belonged in this murky light, in this dome of weeds, this castle of broken glass. She felt like she was just... _supposed_ to be there. Like this was her place; and hers only. The marble statues surrounding her made the total of twelve; some statues had been less fortunate to the deprivation of age and had lost either arms, legs or heads. Some, however, were strangely intact and had even kept out of harm's way from the weeds. One seemingly untouched statue representing a man was the closest to Sakura. He bore an ancient harness, with intricate patterns on his armour and detailed battle scars on his shield. The katana he shielded was broken, and yet the man looked in the far off distance, as if to continue his struggle even with a broken sword. His eyes fiercely fixed on something far away, the statue represented the will of power; to continue striving forward even when broken down. Sakura admired the white marble statue. The man had long straight hair, resembling the style Kaika had, but his hair only reached his abdomen. The man's marble eyes was the most delicate part of the statue; they were surprisingly realistic. If Sakura hadn't known better, she would have sworn to see them move. She shook her head.

Sakura felt that her chakra levels were back to normal and her muscles had rested long enough to be able to move around without problem. How long had she been out for? How long had she been lying on this cold marble floor? Sakura's stomach growled; she needed food. Sakura stretched her arms above her head to give her whole body a full stretch, she strained her body and craned her spine and the curve of her back. Several joints cracked to Sakura's satisfaction.

The past few days had been exhausting, thrilling and heart aching. It had happened so many things which she had a hard time comprehending. Sakura gathered her thoughts. She needed to sort this through. Firstly, she had lost in that spar against Naruto. That spar had revealed her apparent weakness... In that spar, however, she had also achieved the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead, though it had disappeared later when she had had to heal her broken spinal cord. That was something Sakura was very glad she had achieved, however, she doubted it would make her anywhere near as strong as Naruto.

After her release from the hospital that same day they went to Ichiraku's. Sakura remembered and blushed. Hinata had kissed her... And Kiba had kissed Naruto. Sakura couldn't keep back her laugh as she remembered Kiba being silly drunk and Naruto boiling with the Kyuubi's chakra. Her laughter echoed clearly in the empty and lightly murky ruins of the Kikyou Clan. Sakura realised she missed her dear friend. He must be worried about her, since the only thing Konoha knew of by now was probably that she had disappeared. She bit her lower lip. She needed to get back soon, or Tsunade would throw a huge fit. Sakura shook her head, she still needed to sort through what had happened.

Sakura then remembered that night at Ichiraku's, Naruto had started to talk about Sakura being powerful and she had reacted strongly against it. Now she remembered that moment with embarrassment; she hadn't been able to keep her feelings gathered, they had poured out of her and she had actually called Naruto a hypocrite while crying - unabashed. Wasn't she the hypocrite here? She was so weak and yet she refused to be called anything else.

Sakura recalled that she had then walked in a drunken daze to the old Uchiha Clan's ruined household. She had found that old sealed black door and succeeded in releasing it, even in her drunk state. The old library had been a beautiful sight for Sakura and she had found that scroll... Sakura's eyes widened in shock and realisation. The one who had written that one scroll had been called Kaika. The scroll had been called '_Ama-no-Iwato: The Light Seal - the Last Secret of the Kikyou Clan_'. How could she have forgotten? That important information... That proved Kaika's name to be true to her name and also her relation the supposedly massacred Kikyou Clan.

Sakura closed her eyes, pink eye lashes fluttered. Did she really trust this reincarnated kunoichi, now that she knew it was true? Sakura opened her verdant eyes to meet the world with her piercing green gaze. Somehow, she did. However juvenile her sentiment was, she could not deny her true feeling of trust.

That reminded her of her stay in Orochimaru's lair. That whole time had seemed like a dream to her, though partly nightmare. Orochimaru had frightened her beyond her senses and she came to realise that she hated the feeling of being afraid even more than she hated the Snake Sannin. Sakura grit her teeth. She had felt so helpless and now she felt regret. Not even once had she even thought of bringing Sasuke back to Konoha with her; her intellect had told her no, that it was impossible.

First of all, she hadn't known where she was; the location was unknown. Second of all, she hadn't known how to get out in that maze of corridors. Thirdly, how would she have transported a badly hurt Sasuke with those disturbingly low chakra levels she had had? Fourth and last; she would have died in an instant by Orochimaru's hand if she ever had tried to kill him. She knew this. There had never been anything she could have done.

Sakura's eye brows furrowed. She knew Naruto would have tried either way; with all those odds against him, he would still have tried. He would have cast himself into the jaws of Orochimaru. He would probably have converted him into a good citizen of Konoha at the same time as well, Sakura smiled to herself. That dear idiot friend of hers, with his impulses and good natured heart. His heart warming smile. Sakura felt her heart wrench and she suddenly despised Sasuke in one dark corner of her heart. How could he make Naruto suffer so? Her crush on him had been shallow but Sasuke's friendship with Naruto had been a bond. An unbreakable, ageless bond without an expiration date, which Naruto would never discard in his life. Naruto believed in Sasuke, yet the Uchiha always turned his back on him.

If Sasuke ever decided to come back, Sakura knew Naruto would forgive him. However, Sakura wasn't so sure she would... Over and over, Sasuke had betrayed Naruto and her. The Uchiha had hurt Naruto in too many ways for one human to bear. Sakura knew Naruto was always suffering from Sasuke's betrayal, though he never showed it nor mentioned it. Sakura slammed her hand against the cold, wet marble clad floor without chakra. She was even weaker than Naruto mentally. What Naruto had gone through, Sakura knew it was painful. It sapped his spirit. It made him angry and it hurt him. Yet through it all; he persevered. Naruto worried about others. Naruto tried to shine the light of happiness into an otherwise dark and dreadful place. If that wasn't mental strength, Sakura didn't know what was.

Sakura doesn't have Naruto's strength. Her life had been relatively easy. Sure, she has had her aches and pains and one heartbreak. But Sakura has never had her rear end kicked every day like Naruto and still kept coming back for more. Sakura felt that something was running down her chin, then her throat. She touched the liquid and saw it was blood, blood from her lip. She had bit so hard she had broken the skin on her lower lip. Sakura sighed. She needed to get moving, she had done enough thinking and reminiscing about the past few days. She wanted to go home.

First, however, she needed to contact Tsunade-shishou. Sakura needed to tell her not to wage a Fourth Ninja War because of Sakura's disappearance, because she was she sure Tsunade would if it meant finding her apprentice. Sakura had always been there for Tsunade and had helped her with boring paperwork in stacks which Tsunade had discarded as 'unimportant'. Yet those 'unimportant' stacks had had many surprisingly important files and Sakura realised that her teacher sorted the paper work by how many words the file consisted of and the complexity of the words. So the stacks Sakura had to go through, read, analyse, write reports on, sign or make Tsunade sign and many more things which were very important indeed. Sakura had been there for Tsunade, as a political counsellor as well as an emotional aide. Sakura had always helped Tsunade bear the political pressure with a smile and a cup of coffee. (Even though Tsunade always preferred saké, she always appreciated the coffee). In the process, Sakura had learnt many things about politics and its game of trust, the instability and complicated relations.

The pinkette rose from the marble floor and stretched again. She yawned and walked around in a circle, trying out her muscles and chakra reserves. She was satisfied with the result; she had regained her chakra reserves completely. However, she noted, her body was malnutritioned. She was in grave need of nutrition. Sakura shook her head, first things first.

Sakura braided her fingers together and looked at them, twirling the elegant fingers around each other and she made a beautiful seal, she painted the air with her fingers as if she made a butterfly.

"Kai!" Sakura released her fingers and pressed her arms away from her. A small, lithe and pink butterfly was suddenly produced from the white cloud with a whooshing sound. Sakura regarded it and saw it was flawless.

"Location: Konohagakure. Receiver: The Hokage. Tell Shishou that I'm okay and I'll be home soon. Go!" Sakura pointed her finger at the little, fluttering pink butterfly to clarify her message. The butterfly swayed a few seconds longer in front of Sakura, then it soared away into the sky and started its journey to Konoha. It was a special butterfly Sakura had found as a messenger, it could camouflage itself in the sky so no predatory birds ever caught it and it dissolved into thin air if ever captured by an unknown force. It was invisible.

Sakura looked around the dome, to see if there was an entrance of some sort. Sakura's eyes landed on a specifically plant-covered corner of her peripheral vision. The greenery had grown boundlessly in that corner of the dome, the flowers sprouted with life, mushrooms grew at the feet of a small tree which seemed to bow down, and then Sakura noticed that the roots weren't visible in the dome. It seemed like the tree peeked in to the dome, growing its roots on the other outer side. Sakura strolled towards the tree, noting its beautiful blue flowers hanging down like stalactites, and then she went into the drapes, like a curtain of hanging plants.

Sakura stumbled over roots as she entered through the grand entrance, which it had once been before the nature had taken over the household, and she almost fell on the soft grass of the outside of the Kikyou Clan's green household. Sakura's eyes were blinded by the sun, it was a cloudless day and the sun shone unforgivingly on her eyes which had adjusted to the darkly lit murkiness of the dome's atmosphere.

Sakura held up her hands, to cover her eyes. After a while, Sakura blinked, and her eyes had adjusted barely to the sun light. What met her vision was a forest, seemingly endless forest with tall trees and small bushes ever here and there on the ground, some trees had fallen and had been taken over by the undergrowth of the forest. It was a breath taking sight, yet Sakura decided she had no time to gobble up this scenery with her beauty-hungry eyes and she closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt her chakra flow and she made a few hand signs to further strengthen her chakra discerning ability. She searched slowly for any other chakras nearby, yet she could feel none. Sakura sighed. Suddenly, two weak chakras flared up in the outer ends of her chakra discerning area. Sakura quickly decided it was probably two civilians, probably hunters, who were in the forest right in front of her, though a bit to the west.

Sakura opened her green eyes, mumbled '_kai_' with a few hand signs which released her chakra discerning ability and made a quick check up on her weapons and her clothes. When she looked down on her body, Sakura suddenly blushed. She hadn't noticed it before because it had been quite warm, but the only so called clothes she wore was some black bindings over her chest and a pair of black tights. Her shoulders, back and stomach were completely bare. She now recalled that Suigetsu had ripped her yukata off... Sakura clenched her fist. _That bastard_.

The pinkette decided it couldn't be helped and picked up her holster for kunais she had found in Kabuto's laboratory. What she found was two scalpels and three knives, all in different shapes.

They would do as weapons, since Sakura was quite handy with a scalpel as well as with big knives. A quick slash at an vital artery with one of the scalpels could very well end an experienced ninja's life. Sakura smiled. With these, she'd be able to protect herself as well as interrogate anyone in need of when traveling to Konoha.

The two weak chakras started to walk further away from Sakura's position so she decided that now was the time to follow them. They were either on their way home with the day's catch, or they were still hunting. The pink haired kunoichi looked back at the dome and realised it wasn't apparent that the ruins of the Kikyou even existed, since the forest seemed to have swallowed it whole. The only thing giving its existence away was the white marble visible where Sakura had gotten through to the outside. Sakura looked at the Kikyou household and she felt her mouth twitch into a smile. Her ancestors household was still beautiful, as beautiful as it had been in the past, Sakura mused. She turned, left the forgotten household in nature's grasp yet again, and continued to run in the direction of the two chakras. Sakura regarded the position of the sun as she ran through the greenery in the forest and she determined it was some time past noon. The hunters were probably still hunting.

Sakura felt one of the small chakras closest to her were walking towards her, so she simply pulled to a stop and walked in front of the man. Or, as it was, a boy. The brown haired boy turned at the sound of Sakura's steps on the branches and his eyes widened at the sight of her. She smiled and tried not to look suspicious, which was very hard considering the circumstances. After all, she was in the middle of the woods in kami-sama knows where, she had almost no clothes on and she was hungry as a wolf. Her stomach growled without her consent.

"P-pink..." The boy stuttered and looked with nut brown eyes big as saucers at Sakura's hair. Sakura burst out laughing, which seemed to scare the little guy. He had probably never seen pink hair before in his life. Sakura regarded the little boy and his clothes. His clothes wore a certain resemblance to the country of Tea's type of clothing.

"D-don't hurt me, lady..." The boy had snot hanging from his nose and tears almost gathered in his eyes. Sakura was reminded why she disliked children, but somehow this little guy was a bit adorable. Sakura snickered and held her hand in front of her mouth, an old habit she had.

"Don't worry, I won't. All I want to know is the direction of the nearest village." Sakura smiled her most honest and caring smile she could muster. The snotty boy almost shied away. Well, Sakura had never been that good with kids anyway.

"Little guy, I really want to go home. I got lost in this forest and I couldn't find my way out." Sakura lied through her teeth and smiled sadly, to further empathise the story. The boy looked at her in a new light.

"Y-you want to go home?" The boy then shook his head furiously. "B-but... O-otou-san says I can't t-talk to strangers..." He wrinkled his face as he stared at her.

"That is a very sensible thing of your father to say." Sakura nodded, trying her best to talk to this little, snot-running thing called a child. Her stomach rumbled quietly.

"Woah. Nice catch, Uso!" A tall, dark haired man emerged from the greenery and walked to the small clearing where Sakura and the boy stood. The boy's head snapped and he rushed to his father's side and hugged him. Sakura saw some snot smear on the fox fur on the father's clothes and she wrinkled her nose.

"O-Otou-san, this girl just appeared and I-I don't... She's a-almost got no... c-clothes a-and..." The young boy stuttered while blushing profusely. "S-she needs help to get back h-home, she says!" The boy looked at his father with teary eyes, trying his best to be brave and explain the situation with the pink haired stranger who just so happened to have almost no clothes on. Sakura wondered if this boy truly could help his father with hunting, what with his fear of everything consuming him.

"Is that so, young lady?" He looked at her and Sakura felt the need to cover herself. He didn't ask her any questions, he only looked at her. The tall man took off his fur and then gave it to her with a heart warming smile. Sakura nodded politely and thanked him as she put it on to cover herself. The soft fox fur smelled of the forest, there was that spot of snot on the fur and there was a slight odour of sweat, but somehow Sakura felt it was comforting. She ignored the snot part, though.

"Thank you, you are very kind. As I told your son before you got here, I'm lost in this forest and I need to go home." Sakura said with a pretended shaking voice.

"I see. I'm Taichi. I'll help you to get to our village." The man called Taichi smiled.

The father suddenly stopped and regarded the dark green forest intently and then looked up into the sky. The sun shone more dimly now, clouds had started to gather in the blue sky and the atmosphere had started to grow more humid. The tall man sniffed and looked at his son with a smile.

"The fog is coming soon and we don't want to get lost in the woods when it comes, now do we Uso?" The father laughed and patted his snivelling son on the head.

"Let's go home. Young lady, you can follow us to the village. You don't seem to have any money on you so you can stay for one night in out house."

"B-but father, she's a stranger!" Uso pouted.

"Uso, she is a lost girl with barely no clothes. You need to understand that some strangers are in need of shelter and at those times, you help them. Especially a damsel in distress."  
Sakura almost laughed when the man said 'damsel in distress', but she bit her lip and swallowed her bubbling laughter. Oh, a damsel in distress, now was she?

"Y-yes, otou-san." The boy answered and looked down on his feet in defeat.

"Good. Let's go now. Are you coming, young lady?"

"Yes."

Sakura followed the father and the son willingly and with a smile on her face. They were so gullible, thinking she was a civilian, yet she felt that she liked them. Sakura sighed and breathed in the smell of the red fox fur. She could finally go home.

**xxXxXxXxx**

"We cannot let Orochimaru make use of her! She's _almost_ on equal footing to Tsunade, so would you imagine the graveness of the situation if she was there to heal them every time we, or anyone else for that matter, succeeded in hurting them?"

"My apprentice is actually on _equal_ grounds with me, Elder. It seems Orochimaru has gotten his hands on this information somehow. And yes, we need to send her away, hide her from his grasp."

"I agree. We cannot protect her here. What with already having a Jinchuuriki to protect and hide..."

"Do you have a special place in mind, Tsunade-shishou? Will it be safe from Orochimaru?"

"...Yes. I know of a hidden village in the mountains. I believe it's safe."

**xxXxXxXxx**

The sun shone dimly in the evening atmosphere in the Leaf village, a few leaves rustled in the soft wind and the people of the village were still active in the late afternoon on the streets. Sakura walked on the bustling streets of Konoha. She had gotten to Konoha the day before and she was incredibly happy that she was back, she had reported to Tsunade-shishou straight away and she had been crushed in a hug by Naruto. However, none except Tsunade knew where Sakura had been for four days. Sakura had told her not to say anything to Naruto and her friends, so Sakura's story was that she had been called to a sudden Medic mission in the country of Tea. They had all believed her without batting an eye.

Sakura moved swiftly through the crowded street with two grocery bags in each hand. When Sakura had gotten back to her apartment all of her food had gotten out of date. Sakura thought about her trivial every day matters, she needed to clean the house and prepare dinner for tonight... Sakura bit her lip. She couldn't help but think her life trivial, the day after she had succeeded in getting away from one of the ninja world's most dangerous criminal? How ungrateful could she be?

"Oi! Sakura, pack your bags!" A booming voice disrupted her thoughts and Sakura turned around to see the Hokage walks sturdily towards her. Sakura raised one pink eyebrow.

"What?"

"Pack your bags, is what I said! Yeah, you're going training! In the mountains. I hear it's freezing cold there, so pack that big sweater you have. Oh, and you'll need a muffler..." The Hokage babbled on and Sakura almost dropped her grocery bags.

"Wait, Tsunade-sama, you can't go deciding these thi-..." Sakura protested but was cut off short with a low chuckle from Tsunade. The Hokage smirked at the pinkette.

"Oh you bet I can. Guess who's the Hokage? It's clearly not you." The blonde older woman chuckled again and posed arrogantly in front of Sakura.

"Tsunade-sama, you don't act your age at all-" Tsunade hit Sakura slightly on the cheek, yet Sakura soared in the air to the other side of the active street. People, used to ninja's sudden angry outbreaks, evaded the pink haired medic as they continued to walk on.

"Are you calling me a hag, you little brat...!" Tsunade growled while she stomped to where Sakura sat. The pink haired girl got up slowly and dusted herself off. This was nothing to Tsunade-shishous drunk punches; those actually _hurt_.

"No... Or well yeah, kind of. Either way, Where are you going to send me off to?" Sakura grumpily asked while she rubbed her sore cheek with healing chakra.

"Witty brat. I'm not sending you off, oh okay I am, but it's training! You're going to be there for just about a month. Look, you've never said anything, but I know that you've read every scroll there is in Konoha, I saw your name written in the record of rented scrolls in the library on every scroll there was. I also know you've mastered every medical jutsu I have taught you, I've seen you in action enough times to know. There's simply no more I can teach you as a Medic Nin; as a Medic Nin, you are full-fledged. The only thing left for you is to train your physical body, to be able to fight as well as heal. It's going to be your own decision on which path you want to continue; as a fighter or as a medic."

Sakura's eyes widened. She then jumped at the Hokage and hugged her. The busty, blonde woman's eyes looked at her in surprise.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Tsunade-sama, you've put my feelings into words, and my words into action." Sakura let go of the Hokage as she felt people staring at them in the street. Sakura bowed her head to her teacher.

"Tsunade-sama, I am grateful for your concern regarding my development in knowledge. I'm very glad that you've come to understand my feelings. I will train in these... mountains." Tsunade touched the girl's shoulder, hinting that she stop bowing. Sakura looked up from underneath her pink bangs which fell over her emerald eyes. Lights shone within them.

"Don't be so formal, brat. I'm just filling in the holes, you know. I feel like there were some things I could never teach you Sakura, so this physical training is going to do you good. It will... take your mind off things."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama! When do I leave?" Sakura chirped, suddenly glad.

"Tomorrow morning at sunrise. I'll send a guide to your apartment, so be ready by then. His name is Sai. However, I can't tell you the name of the village now, the guide will do so. Oh, and I hope you understand... You need to do this in secret. None will see you, hear you or know that you have left the village and where to." Sakura knew what Tsunade meant. Orochimaru might want her back, to heal yet another injured criminal they couldn't heal, so utmost secrecy was necessary so Orochimaru wouldn't know of her location.  
"Yes, shishou! Can I tell Naruto that I'm going away?"

"...Yeah, you may. But that's the only one."

"Alright! See you in a month then, Tsunade-sensei!"

When Tsunade walked away from Sakura towards the Hokage tower, the pink haired medic decided to say goodbye to Naruto right away after she left the groceries in her apartment. Sakura left her room, locked the door and jumped swiftly over the rooftops in the direction to Naruto's apartment. The air felt humid, yet Sakura breathed happily. Her life wouldn't be trivial, there's no way it ever would. And she would get stronger. She would prove her usefulness to her beloved village.

Sakura was just about to knock on the Kyuubi container's door when she landed gallantly on his doorstep, as the door handle went down and the it opened. Sakura yelped in surprise as Jiraya went out of Naruto's apartment. In the background Sakura heard '_Bye bye, ol' geezer_'. The older white haired man looked at the pink haired girl, scrutinised her, and then he took on a pondering facial expression. Sakura waved politely and smiled at her older senpai.

"Good afternoon, Jiraya-san!"

The toad sannin suddenly seemed to recognise who she was.

"Ah. 65 B!" The old man seemed happy to have remembered Sakura's breast size and he smiled innocently at her. Sakura felt a vein on her forehead pulsate with pumping blood and her hands lit up with green chakra. Jiraya seemed to realise the extent of his mistake and he put up his hands in a protective stance and sweated. This girl was too similar to Tsunade for his liking.

"You old pervert!" Sakura roared as she smashed his face. Jiraya flew away into Konoha like a fallen star. Sakura panted as she tried to settle down. Her breast size had always been an insecurity of hers, even though she wasn't as shallow as before. It still tugged at her side.

"Oi, Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" A voice rang and Sakura turned around to see a blonde, tall man emerge from the noodle smelling apartment. Sakura smiled.

"Ehh, you wanna go on a date?" Naruto smiled widely, with a fox-like grin.

"Not today, not tomorrow, not ever." Sakura countered as she always did and laughed. Naruto always brought her a sense of comfort, of belonging and a sense of ... _home_.  
"As usual, then. Come inside, come inside. Did you want something, Sakura-chan? Noodles?" Naruto asked as he went into the sparse apartment, Sakura followed and closed the door gently.

Naruto howled in protest.

"Why? You're going to leave me again, Sakura-chan, huh?" Naruto whimpered as he looked at Sakura with loving eyes, filled with pain. His eyes told her not to leave him. Sakura bit her lower lip. They sat in Naruto's kitchen and had talked a bit, then Sakura had broke the news of her training in the mountains for a month on Tsunade's orders. But she hadn't told him of Orochimaru and Sasuke, she wasn't ready for that yet...

"Naruto-" Sakura was cut short.

"No, listen. You can just stay in Konoha, it won't matter. You know, I will always protect you!" Naruto lashed out, exclaimed, proclaimed, stated and begged. He so desperately wanted her to stay. Sakura flinched.

"I'm sorry Naruto. It's Tsunade-sama's orders. They are absolute. You know that already." Sakura sighed and looked away from him; she couldn't bear the sight of those two blue innocent eyes.  
"To hell with that old hag's orders!" Naruto shouted angrily and smashed his two clenched fists against the table he sat at. His cerulean blue eyes shone brightly, his impulsive devastating reaction to Sakura's journey to the mountains had not been in kind favour to the table in Naruto's kitchen. It had cracked into two. The spiky yellow haired shinobi looked up at her with accusing eyes.

"Naruto... I'll really miss you." Sakura said and smiled at her best and broke Naruto in two, yet she bit her lip again.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, then as if he comprehended what she'd said; he blushed profusely. "I-I don't know what to say, Sakura-chan, this is like a dream...But I-I'm not ready yet...Oh, when to meet your parents..." Naruto stuttered while looking down on his hands; his ears a red blush. Realisation of what Naruto was blabbering about dawned upon Sakura as a thunderous dark cloud. She grit her teeth and growled.

"_Naruto_. I am **not** confessing my love to you."

"Oh. Too bad." Naruto looked now even more depressed than before. Sakura suddenly felt warmth spread inside her heart for the impulsive and reckless male shinobi dressed in a hideous neon orange coloured jumpsuit in front of her. She loved him dearly, this idiot friend of hers. Sakura sighed and surrendered to him.

"_Baka_." She insinuated as she hugged him. Naruto was stiff at first, then he almost choked her in his embrace around her petite body. Sakura didn't say a thing, even though she was sure one of her ribs was slowly breaking. She rested her head in the hole of the neck of the taller young man, she felt comfortable in his embrace and it gave her inner strength. If only this feeling of safety would last...

Suddenly, Naruto having Sakura this close to him, couldn't help but react to it.

In a hard kind of way. Sakura turned her head slowly to Naruto's face; they were intimately close. Naruto blushed and seemed to not know what to do. He smiled daringly, questioning if what he did was justified by the male bodily functions and teenage hormones. Sakura smiled and decided it was not.

It was one of her devious smiles and Naruto felt his face droop. The stars shone through the roof of Naruto's apartment as he crashed into the roof, creating a big hole in the roof, and then flying away with tiles and tree splinters into the starry night sky from the pure, raw force of Sakura's monstrous punch. She counted it as a new record, as she saw him disappear in the night sky as a star. The pink haired kunoichi felt satisfied with her punishment on Naruto as she cracked her knuckles, even though she knew he couldn't have helped his reaction to their intimacy, she felt this kind of good bye was more befitting to the two of them. No need for tears. Either way, this journey of hers wouldn't last for a very long time, it was after all just a month. She would be back soon either way.

Sakura strolled the short walk back to her house, she only needed to pack a few things before she left at sunrise. When Sakura was in her room she closed the door and sat down at her bed. With a discerning eye she overlooked her room. It was a sparse living space, she had not much belongings other than her scrolls, clothes, a writing desk, one canvas depicting a black cat with yellow eyes, as well as a few kunais and other ninja weapons in her cupboard. Sakura's wandering gaze stuck on one certain scroll which she had thrown in the corner of her room. That was the one scroll she had taken from the Uchiha library...

Sakura took the scroll and put it into her bag. She would look more closely at it when she was in the hidden mountain village. Just as Sakura stuffed the ancient scroll into her bag a knock was heard on her window. Sakura snapped and turned around to see a sleepy, a face half covered with a black cloth and sprawling silver hair outside her window. The Copy-nin smiled with his one visible eye and waved. Sakura's eyes turned into slits as she went to open the window for her former sensei.

"Kakashi, do you have any idea what time it is? I can't even-"

"Shh, Sakura-chan. You'll wake the neighbours with that loud voice." The slightly older man crinkled his eye in a supposed smile. Sakura growled and rested her hand on her hip, which made her look dangerously much like the Hokage.

"What are you doing here, Kakashi?" Sakura demanded to know. Kakashi produced a small orange book and started to read while talking to her, which further annoyed Sakura.

"I just wanted to say good bye to my dear little Sakura-chan, can't I do that?" He drawled.

"Sure. Good bye." Sakura attempted to close the window, but Kakashi's hand went in the way. Sakura glared at him.

"Why so sullen, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi wondered, his voice seemed slightly hurt. Sakura sighed, she wouldn't be lured by that voice.

"Because I want to sleep." Sakura curtly said and yawned, as if to further prove her tiredness.

"Want me to sleep with you?"

Sakura's fist almost connected with Kakashi's chin, yet he evaded her in the last second. The man chuckled and waved calming with his hands; Sakura's face was suddenly tinted with pink flushes as her green eyes became even more apparent to the contrast of her skin.

"It was a joke, a joke." Kakashi chuckled and looked with an amused eye on the blushing kunoichi. He seemed to enjoy her embarrassment. Sakura felt how near she was to exploding.

"Go away! You've been reading too much Icha-Icha." Sakura roared and started to push him away from her window. Kakashi struggled to keep his balance on the window ledge.

"Alright, I'm sorry, I'll go. But first... I just came here to tell you something." Sakura stopped pushing the famous Copy-nin out of her window and looked at her former teacher suspiciously.

"I know that I haven't always been there for you. I never gave the attention you deserved. I-"  
"Kakashi. There's no need." Sakura suddenly smiled and ended the monologue Kakashi seemed to have prepared for her. "There was nothing you could have done. I was shallow back then, and I didn't care about my training. All I ever cared about was Sasuke-kun. And I'm... I'm _happy_. I was happy in Team 7. I'm happy now. And I've changed. That is what I'm the most happy about - I'm not the same girl anymore."

Kakashi's eye widened, then he chuckled and patted her head with one hand.

"Good, good. I hope all goes well with your training. Work hard." Kakashi smiled with his one eye.

"Farewell, Sakura-chan."

In a cloud of smoke the Copy-nin disappeared from Sakura's window ledge, into the darkness of night.

Sakura stood a while at the window and stared out into the night, a seemingly endless darkness loomed over Konoha and it almost consumed her. Sakura shook her head and decided that she better go to bed; it would be a long day of traveling tomorrow. Sakura went to the bathroom and prepared for sleep and when she got back to her bed, she shed her clothes carelessly on the floor, piece by piece. Sakura caught her almost naked reflection in her small mirror she had in one corner of her room. The pink haired girl walked to the mirror and regarded herself in her almost naked state. Sakura's body was still angular, puberty had yet to grasp her more mature parts. Her arms and legs were slender, her abdominal muscles were minimal and her small shoulders told of physical weakness. Sakura slowly, gently, took away the black bindings strapping her small chest. She let the bindings fall to the floor with soft thud.

The pink haired kunoichi remembered her encounter with the reincarnated, silver haired woman called Kaika Kikyou. She remembered what she had said. About her blood line limit and her heritage of the Kikyou Clan. About the history of catching a ray of the sun and sealing it into the strongest warrior in a cherry blossom tattoo. About Kaika bursting into light itself because of the sun inside her burning away her flesh from the inside. About the fallen Kikyou Clan's household.

The young woman in the sparse room looked at her body in the mirror for a while, studying the her shape and the angular almost unnoticeable curves. Her outrageously pink hair almost reached her collarbone now, Sakura reminded herself that she needed to cut it. Then the kunoichi's gaze set on her freckle. Sakura had always hidden the fact that she had a huge freckle on the exact place of her solar plexus between her breasts, which wasn't that hard to hide since it was between her breasts, but it had still been one of Sakura's most devastating insecurities about her body. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. Had her freckle always looked like that? She stared at the freckle intently which was at the exact spot of her solar plexus. The freckle looked like it had been carved into her skin with petal-like shapes. Sakura's heart froze as she realised what the freckle actually looked like, or rather, _what it was._

The pink haired kunoichi tried to grasp the fact that the freckle on her solar plexus resembled a _cherry blossom tattoo_.

* * *

**A/N:**

**BAAM. Surprise! **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, even though it was a bit pragmatic in the beginning of the chapter; what with the whole flash back and the environmental descriptions thing... I still went and finished it good, didn't I? Or well, I hope so. And I also hope you guys understand the whole thing with Sakura's freckle.. And if you haven't noticed, I love cliffhangers. **

**(****For those of you who didn't get the freckle thing:**** The freckle isn't really a freckle, it's actually the Light Seal - the cherry blossom tattoo which restrains the ray of the sun within her - because Sakura's a descendent of the wiped out Kikyou Clan. HA suck on that Sasuke and Naruto!) **I know I'm childish..

**There's many more things I have planned out, I just need my fickle ideas to come into life and into words. Oh, you guys have no idea what's going to come! I'm so excited I could **** myself. (left that to your imagination)**

**PLEASE REVIEWWW AND I-I WILL ALWAYS LOOVE YOUUUU OooOOhh** (Titanic singing voice)

**Love,  
Lovisa**


	7. Ch 7 - The Journey to the Land of Snow

**Chapter 7**

The Journey to the Land of Snow

* * *

_I should have understood when you looked away,_

_That everything has an end _

_And all beauty is ephemeral_

**T**he chirping of birds woke her up, eyes fluttering like the batting of wings. Sakura yawned and stretched in her bed as the bird's chirping continued outside her window, then her fist clenched in irritation. Her morning mood had never been worse, and on top of that, the chirping of birds almost toppled her over. The kunoichi thought of a hundred creative ways to kill a bird before she decided to get up. It was almost sunrise and her guide would be at her door soon. When she was finished in the bathroom she went to her closet. This time however, she did not instantly take her usual attire - the red top and short grey apron. Her green eyes searched for another colour other than red in her closet which suited her mood. Black. She found a black top in the back of the closet, it was sleeveless and a bit similar to her red Qipao dress she used to wear so long ago but this was a top, she deemed it perfect. The Haruno clan symbol with white circular designs was sewn on the back and the black fabric was tight, yet she could move freely in it. Sakura then chose a pair of loose black pants with pouches for kunai and other weapons. She knew she was headed north and it would be cold, so she chose a thick grey coat to wear over her black top. It would however restrain her movements, Sakura pondered, but in case of fighting she just needed to throw it off. Sakura then donned her grey elbow protectors and as she was about to take her forehead protector, her hands hesitated. What was it Tsunade had told her the day before? _Utmost secrecy. None should know who you are. _Sakura then dropped the forehead protector on her cupboard. She bit her lip. This was the first time she hadn't put the forehead protector on for years. It was what she was - a part of Konoha. But she had to leave it.

Sakura shook her head. This dark mood she was in didn't suit her, yet she couldn't help but don a frown on her face. She had an headache, probably from lying awake most of the night thinking and pondering and writhing uncomfortably in her sweaty blankets. About that freckle on her solar plexus... Sakura shook her head again, this time more violently. She took her dark green bag with supplies, weapons and clothes and went down the stairs to the kitchen. She was not surprised to find her father at the kitchen table beside the window, he had a cup of steaming black coffee in his hand and he read a thick book from the other. Sakura noted the title of it; Conclusion of Chakra Systems. It was a book she herself had recommended to her father, for she knew his interest in Chakra was still intact. He had after all been a Chakra Techniques- and its Origin professor at an university in the north before he came to Konoha and married her mother.

"Father, good morning."  
"Ah, Sakura. Good morning to you."

He smiled at her then and took a sip of his hot coffee, returning to his book and was then enveloped in its complex words and sentences. Sakura went to the fridge and took out a few dango - spared from their dinner the day before. It wasn't really breakfast, but she liked dango and it was always the best way to start a day. Sakura turned to look at her father, with her back tilting on the kitchen counter. She munched on the dango as she thought. Maybe her father knew something? Would she dare ask him?

"Father... Do you know much of chakra based seals?" Sakura questioned her father nonchalantly, deciding on trying to gather as much information on it as she could, however discretely.

"I would say a bit, yes. How so?" Her father looked up at her from his book, his concentration fully on her. She needed to come up with something, and so she remembered the Light Seal scroll she had in her green bag on her shoulder.  
"I just... I just read this scroll the other day and... And it was about these chakra based seals... One was about a seal which looked like a tattoo." Sakura came up with her idea as she talked and was quite content with what she came up with.

"Ah, yes. Would you describe it?" Her father was suddenly interested, he pushed his glasses up on the back of his nose and he looked at her with apprehension. Sakura swallowed a dango and continued talking, though this time a bit more reserved.

"The scroll described it as a cherry blossom tattoo. It also described it as something one could inherit. Is that true? What is it?" She confessed as she took another bite. Was she doing the right thing, asking her father? She thought to herself, yet she answered her own question directly. Yes, it was worth the risk. She needed to know, she needed to know what it was and what it meant.  
"Oh, how interesting. Those tattoos restrict chakra, actually. And yes, one can inherit them as well, even though it's unusual." Kizashi hummed and nodded.  
"What?" Sakura almost spat out the dango on the floor, she wiped her mouth clean and stared at her father. Her father wrinkled his nose with dislike, but he didn't say anything about her bad eating manners. He just nodded once again and took a sip from his coffee.

"Restrict chakra? Are you sure?" Sakura asked, feeling her heart beat rapidly.

"Mm. They do. It's rarely used however, not many desire to seal such an amount of chakra. You see, there are different levels of these chakra based seals. The cherry blossom tattoo is the one which restrains an ridiculous amount of chakra, then there's the feather ring tattoo which also restrains huge amounts of chakra - though a bit less, and there's also the waterfall triangle tattoo..." Her father rambled on about different chakra based seals, but it was clear which one was the strongest.

The cherry blossom tattoo.

"What? Father, are you serious? About the cherry blossom tattoo?" Sakura coughed, she was so surprised she couldn't hide it. But her father seemed not to notice her outburst, he just sat there and hummed knowingly.

"Yes, darling? It is unusual for it to be written of in normal scrolls, however..." He pondered. Sakura caught her breath. She needed to get out. She needed to breath.  
"B-but... I don't... I have to go! I'll see you in a month by the way, i-it's a mission!" Sakura called out almost incomprehensibly as she stuffed the rest of the dango into her mouth and went to don her black boots in the hallway, next to the kitchen.

"A mission, but... so suddenly? You just got back from a mission, dear. When will you ever take a break?" Kizashi questioned her and looked at her with worry in his eyes from the kitchen table. Sakura looked up from her boots and saw her father's worried gaze.

"Yes, I'm sorry! Uh. Tell mother I love her!" Sakura said in haste, she seemed determined to get out of the apartment.  
"That won't calm her raging anger, dear, and you know that as well as I do. Oh, I will be cut into pieces." Kizashi looked down at his lap, pouting. Sakura almost laughed, but she couldn't since she knew her mother's anger was not to be confronted with.

"Don't worry father, I'll come back soon and patch you up. Farewell!" She cheered, waved and then was out the door in the gush of a wind.

"Farewell, dear. Be careful." Kizashi told thin air, she had been so fast to get out she hadn't even heard his last words of worry. Not that she would have needed to - he and Mebuki had always worried about her and choked her with words of 'being careful' ever since she was little. Maybe they had been slightly overprotective, but one could never be too overprotective of one's daughter, Kizashi decided. After all, she was but a mere girl. She couldn't protect herself. Yes, he believed in his daughter's abilities, but it was only natural that she couldn't compete with other men. Her physique would not let her. Kizashi furrowed his brows, he thought like that yet he knew it was different with shinobi. Shinobi, male or female, was all blessed with the same chakra channels and reserves. Not always the same amount of course, but there were no differences in strength. Kizashi, however, had been taught since childhood that there were differences between girls and boys, as simple as girls being weak and boys being strong.

As his daughter slammed the door shut, Kizashi continued to read the book his daughter had given him, yet something nagged him in the back of his mind. There was something he had forgotten to tell her... Then he remembered. It was about the cherry blossom tattoo she had wondered about. He knew it wasn't that important, since it had just been a curious question, but still... Not many people even knew of the existence of chakra restraining seals. Absolutely not the High Level restraining seals, such as the cherry blossom tattoo and the feather ring tattoo. He only knew about them because he had been a Professor in Chakra Techniques. He had even once witnessed a performance of a High Level seal, the feather ring, and that had happened at the time of the Nine tails attack of the Kyuubi so many years ago. That monster which had been sealed into an innocent little boy...

Kizashi then shook his head, turned a page in the book and forgot all about the chakra restricting tattoos. All he then thought about was how to break the news to his wife; she would not be happy with the fact that their only daughter was out on a dangerous ninja mission again... Yet, his daughter was a Medic nin and those tended to be held in the background of fights - they healed those who were hurt, so the Medics themselves almost never got hurt. Kizashi was content with his daughter's choice to become a Medic nin, it would slightly lessen his and Mebuki's worries about their beloved daughter. He and his wife had actually been the one's prodding their daughter to choose the Medic profession instead of becoming an ANBU which she had ridiculously talked so much nonsense about. Sometimes he wondered if they had been right in their decision, maybe Sakura had never wanted to become a Medic? Maybe she would rather stand beside her fighting comrades and instead prevent anyone from getting injured - instead of healing them when it was already too late... Kizashi bit his lip, a habit inherited to his daughter. Even though, however nonsensical, that was what she wanted, he would never let her. He would not lose his daughter in a filthy, petty ninja war.

Sakura manoeuvred her steps to the side of her parent's apartment building, dango in her mouth, and as she went around the corner she suddenly and abruptly bumped into something. Or rather, someone, as it turned out. Sakura let out a surprised 'ngh' and looked at the person she had slammed into, taking a few steps back. It was a tall dark-haired man, and Sakura almost caught her breath as she saw the resemblance. He resembled her first love so much to a point where it almost pained her. This man, however, had short raven coloured hair and a stomach-showing black shirt. That stomach-showing top was not bad, since he had an exquisite six-pack to show off, Sakura noted to herself. His features were handsome and his pale complexion made him look attractively frail, yet his cold eyes showed the opposite.

"Haruno Sakura?" The man suddenly pronounced her name with care, questioning her. It was not unusual that people knew of her, since her outrageous hair colour was hard to miss.

"Y-yes?" She stuttered. She was still taken by surprise of the resemblance this man bore to her former team mate.  
"I am Sai. I will guide you to the hidden village." He smiled with his eyes as she noticed his small backpack hung on his shoulder. Sakura sighed and relaxed her stiff shoulders. He seemed like a decent person so she would not have to worry about him during their journey. She still had things to sort through, to think about... The man called Sai seemed to ponder for a bit, then he smiled at her again.

"Haruno-san, is it okay if I... If I called you by a nickname? I have read it deepens one's bonds, it could also lead to friendship." The man smiled and Sakura tilted her head, questioning. _Read it in books? _Sai stretched out his hand, offering her to shake it.  
"Huh? Sure, Sai-kun." She huffed and brushed off some dust from her black pants and then shook his hand.  
"Well then _Ugly_, shall we go?" Sai said and smiled, let go of her hand and then he pointed to the entrance to Konoha, insinuating they walk out of the village. Sakura felt how anger started to sizzle inside her, yet she ignored the insult and smiled back at him. She would not falter to his impudence.

"Of course, Bastard."

They walked together in a strict pace, passing very few civilians on their way. Konoha was still asleep, it was yet too early for the village to be filled with exuberant life. Sakura looked at the shy, rising sun as it shone timidly on her beloved village in a dim, orange light. She would leave Konoha yet again. Her mood only darkened then, her thoughts always returning to her solar plexus, no matter how hard she tried not to think about it. About that tattoo...

When they were a bit outside of the Konohagakure village Sai turned to her and fell to a stop.

"It will take us five days to travel to Senjuyama village. It is far in the north, in the Land of Snow. It will be cold there Ugly, so have you brought a set of warm clothes?"  
"Yeah I have, Bastard." Sakura smiled politely, yet she used her nickname for him fluently. She couldn't understand this man. She couldn't understand if he either continuously insulted her, or if he was simply... Really bad at social interaction.

"We will also need to disguise ourselves. Are you able to hold a henge for five days?"

Sakura looked at him. She had only been able to hold a henge for one day straight, it was very chakra consuming and if her emotions overwhelmed her the henge would dissipate completely.

"That's impossible."

"Ugly, have you not practiced henges?" Sai looked slightly surprised, yet he still bore a calm and emotionless demeanour. Sakura caught herself wondering if his smile was real or practiced.

"I have, Bastard, but five days straight is something I've never heard of." Sakura said, exasperated. She couldn't stand this man already, and they had five more days to spend together. She would literally smash his face soon if this continued.  
"Un. Then we will have to buy you a wig." Sai stated and seemed to note this to himself. Sakura was a bit disturbed by the fact that he had used 'un' as an answer, the exact response _he_ used to give...  
"A wig?" Sakura snorted.

"Yes, your cheap bubble gum coloured hair is standing out too much." Sai nodded.  
"Say that again, you bastard." Sakura growled. Even though she knew this to be true, her hair colour had never been described as _cheap bubble gum coloured_.  
"Your cheap bubble gum col-" Sai repeated but was cut short when Sakura suddenly smashed a nearby tree with her fist with a rumbling noise. Cracks spread through the tree and splinters fell on the ground as well as the tree's leaves swirled in the wind, shaken away from its attachment to the tree. The rough body of the tree had been severely cracked and a small crater was clearly seen where Sakura's fist had connected and created an impact. That destructive force was not to be taken lightly, Sai saw.

"If you say that again, you face will look like this tree."

"But you told me to say it again-"

"Shut up. Just... shut up." Sakura growled. He really didn't understand normal conversation. Or was he mocking her? Was he only being sarcastic? She looked at him once again and decided he was not. He seemed confused but stayed quiet, following her orders accordingly. She felt regret fill her lungs and she fully understood his inability to create sensible conversation. She gave in and helped him on his quest to social interaction.

"Sai-kun... Can you tell me about Senjuyama village?" Sakura asked him in a despondent tone and she gave up her nickname on him - _Bastard_, somewhat reluctantly. They had started walking again as Sai looked at her and smiled that fake smile with his eyes. He tried, Sakura would give him that.

"Yes, Ugly. It is a beautiful, all seasons snow-covered hidden village in the mountains. It is only but a peaceful village with descendant's from the renowned Senjuu clan, but without any abilities - none in the village is born with chakra in their bodies, therefore it is a civilian village with close ties to the Senjuu. They are weak, but they are protected by their relationship to the powerful Senjuu clan. None disturbs them - not even criminals, and they disturb none in return."

"The village leader is called the Headmaster, and the one currently donning that name is called Takehiko Senjuu. He is a man of peace and prosperity. He rules village gently and is good political leader. He has created mercenary relationships with a few villages in the south, they exchange goods and food, and they have a very stable relationship. The village do have a few shinobi, acting as law enforcers, and in the rare occurrence of attack or criminal actions - they step in."

Sakura looked at Sai as he talked, shuffling silently beside her at the path going north, as if he had memorised his sentences from a tourist scroll. Sakura felt how very much out of shape she was in. She hadn't been able to sleep that night because she had been thinking about the cherry blossom tattoo on her solar plexus. What did it really mean? How was it related to the Kikyou? Sakura was brooding for a long time. Sakura's usually optimistic and polite demeanour had been wiped away, so even Sai had a hard time coping with the quiet kunoichi who seemed so deep in her train of thought. Even though he enjoyed the silence, he had read in many books that social interaction and nicknames made way for bonds to be created. When one had bonds, one had trust. Sai needed Sakura to trust him, otherwise this mission wouldn't go well.

When Sai guided her he continued to talk about Senjuyama village even when Sakura didn't seem especially interested anymore. Sai noticed that his companion got grumpy when she realised that there was none who could train her any further in Senjuyama village. He didn't know how to comfort her, so he continued to talk about the village, the exact words depicted from the scroll he had found about the village just before departing to her apartment.

Sakura realised that Tsunade had never meant for her to train in the Senjuyama village as Sai talked about it. She was just supposed to be trapped there, caged, for one month to wait out until Orochimaru wasn't interested in her any longer. One of the reasons Sakura also realised, of her confinement, as she now liked to see it as, in the village was because Konoha _could_ have used her as a spy in Orochimaru's lair - but they didn't trust her abilities to do so, so they didn't use her. Sakura felt anger start to boil in the pit of her stomach. She knew she wouldn't have been able to fight Orochimaru, but she could at least have gathered information on his plans and his experiments, as well as maybe find a way to bring Sasuke back. At this thought, she got even grumpier.

Sai lightly touched her shoulder and she was snapped out of her thoughts. Even though he had touched her, it seemed like he was uncomfortable with the sense of her skin on his hand, and quickly retracted his hand - as if burned by fire.

"What?" She asked, pink brows furrowed irritably. The man smiled at her and pointed towards a nearby small village.

"We'll get you a wig now, Ugly, and disguise you. After that we should eat something."

Sakura nodded, it sounded good with something to eat. She was starving, she just now noticed. Her stomach growled in happiness at the thought of food.

"Sure. But I decide the colour of the wig!"

"I leave that choice to you, Ugly." He answered with a smile.

In the store for wigs Sakura found the perfect one. It was a violet coloured, smooth wig with bangs and curly hair at the top of the strands. Sai regarded it with one glance and shook his head.

"It's too similar to your own colour." Sai said as he continued to search for a good wig. Sakura huffed.

"You said I could choose." Sakura pouted.  
"I thought you could choose sensibly." Sai murmured as he took up a wig from the counter.

"Bah." Sakura sighed and put the beautiful violet wig back to its place somewhat sadly. She knew he was right.

"This one should be alright, Ugly." Sai stuffed her face with a bright, reddish coloured wig with outrageous curls which stood in every direction. Sakura felt how her mouth was filled with hair.

"Over. My. Dead. Body." Sakura bit off, articulating every word with effort as she pushed away the wig from her face.

"I was never told to kill you." Sai's eyes widened while taking the red wig back, as if protecting it from the pink haired kunoichi.

"It... I never meant- Oh, for fuck's sake. I meant I didn't want it. That curly terrible wig."  
"Then why didn't you just say so?" Sai shook his head and looked at her as if she was stupid. Sakura felt her fist crack as she clenched it, yet she succeeded in not punching his lights out. She was content with her effort, she had never been able to suppress her feelings of punching someone this long before.

"I think I need a wig which won't attract attention." Sakura bit her lip and analysed the shop's contents, but nothing caught her gaze.  
"Yes, that sounds logical." Sai admitted and put the curly, red wig back to the counter.

Sakura was about to pass it by, but then she stopped her steps and stayed, then she looked at the hidden wig in a bumble of brightly coloured hair. The wig had a darkish tone, with tints of ultramarine blue. It had bangs and was long and straight. Sakura was reminded of the Hyuuga heiress hair and Sakura let her hand run through the wig's hair. It wasn't attention-catching, yet it had a certain alluring essence to it.

"This one." Sakura held the wig in front of her for Sai to see. He discerned the wig with analysing eyes, then he seemed to have come to an conclusion.  
"It's ugly. So it suits you, Ugly." Sai smiled and Sakura was fast to walk past him, brushing him off to not let her fist connect with that false smiling face of his.

When Sakura had bought the wig she put it on with the help of Sai in the changing room of a clothes shop. When it was completely fastened, the kunoichi looked in the mirror. What met her gaze was astounding. It didn't look like her at all.

A woman, rather than the girl she was, looked back at her in the reflection. Her face had somehow matured with the darkish colour and her pale complexion was more apparent. Her luscious, cerise lips became more into focus and her green eyes was suddenly more deep in its colour.

She heard Sai say something quietly as she turned to face him, smiling with content.

"...Really ugly."

Sakura sighed, already getting used to Sai's way of complimenting her. She watched herself in the mirror and was suddenly reminded of something.

"I need some contact lenses as well, Sai. Otherwise, this won't be a complete disguise."  
"Yes, I already prepared some. Here you go." He gave her a small package which she accepted suspiciously. In regard of his taste in wigs, she suspected his taste in contact lenses was not any better. She opened the package and found a colour which caught her eye. It was the colour of gold. When she had put the contacts in her eyes, a few tries failed miserably and had ended with her eyes producing ridiculous amounts of tears and red blotches had appeared in different places, but she had succeeded in the end.

Her look was alright, but it wasn't entirely beautiful - what with her face in pain from the foreign contact lenses in her eyes. It was something she had to get used to. Sai seemed to content with her disguise so they went to a small inn and ate a hot meal. Sakura wasn't used to her long hair which seemed to get in the way all the time, and her irritating contact lenses, but she felt that she gathered less attention than what she usually did with her screaming colour of pink hair. She didn't know what to feel about it really, but she decided it was nice to not have as much attention as she usually had.

"Come, Ugly, we need to get some supplies." Sai said after they had payed the innkeeper. As they walked, Sakura noticed Sai's tall body in front of her, how it moved silently through the crowds of people and how his steps seemed to never even touch the ground. How could he do it? He sliced through the crowds as a sword sliced through flesh, gallantly and effectively, he simply walked. He must have done a lot of training... Sakura mused. At this, she was reminded of her lack in strength. Her weakness... Sakura bit her lip. She needed to train, to gain physical strength for she knew that was what she lacked the most. But how was she supposed to train while traveling? Without her noticing, they had arrived at their destination. A horse stall.

"No. I don't need a horse." Sakura said slowly. This was a great opportunity for her, she would be forced to keep the same pace as Sai when he rode on horseback. She could also take his backpack and carry it...

"But Ugly, I've prepared a really good stallion for you, it is one of the fastest-"

"I'll keep up." Sakura snapped quietly as she started to walk promptly away from the bustling horse stall towards the inn where they had left their baggage. Sai hesitated, then he walked after her while pulling the two horses behind him. The black stallion snorted and whipped its tail back and forth as it trotted behind him.

"But-"

"I said I will keep up!" Sakura growled and cut the conversation to an abrupt end.

Sai only looked at Sakura then, and he turned around to lead her black stallion back to the horse stall in silence and gave the rope to the powerful animal's owner.

He really didn't understand her.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hi peeps! I wrote this one chappie in like three hours straight. So I'm quite sure there are some spelling mistakes somewhere and I'm just too tired at the moment to do anything about it. Heehee. (College middle term exams just ended and my brain is in a mushy vegetable state, too much information gathered in my head. My IQ has dropped like 20 points, even more than after I coloured my hair blonde.)**

**Either way, I wrote** _Requiem of Spring_ **today as well (ItaSaku one-shot). Interesting, just a few thoughts turned into a one-shot. I got two reviews, telling me to write a sequel, but I'm not sure... We'll see about it. If some more wants me to write further on my ItaSaku story, please review and tell me. Maybe you'll be able to convince me ;)**

**This chapter might have been a bit boorish, but it was important for building something up. You'll see why in upcoming chapters ;)**

**PLEASE REVIEW AND AAAAIAAAI WILL ALWAYS LOOOOVE YOUUUUUU. Seriously, though. I will.**

Love,  
Lovisa


	8. Ch 8 - The Hidden Village of Senjuyama

**Chapter 8**

**The Hidden Village of Senjuyama**

* * *

_Days pass as we wonder _

_why love is the synonym of pain, this feeling of which we can never dispose_

_In reality, _

_this feeling is what makes us into humans_

** S**akura slept in the same room as Sai and was awakened by a slight sound in the middle of the night. Sakura drowsily looked around the room as she rubbed her right eye, the room was enveloped in darkness, yet a flickering light caught Sakura's attention. She saw a small candle in the corner of the room and the shape of a man sitting beside it, with a paper and a pencil in his hands. Sai scribbled something down, then he stopped to look at it, then he was at it again. Sakura caught herself staring at him. His expression was... different. It seemed like he let go of his facade, it had crumpled into pieces, and his real face was there - open as a book. He furrowed his eye brows at one point and then erased a part in the book with a high level of concentration. Sakura felt the curve of her mouth twitch and she smiled. So he enjoyed drawing. He was a human after all. Sakura noted this to herself for further trying conversation with her guide. Maybe he would show bits of his true self while talking about art? Sakura tried to remember artists she knew of whom they could talk about, but she only came up with a few. Sakura decided to go to sleep instead, it would be a long day of travel the day after. She slumped down on her mat and easily fell into the deep abyss of unconsciousness.

Sai noticed that the kunoichi had fallen asleep again. He continued to draw on his piece, which was his only interest at the moment - he hadn't even told Sakura he was aware that she had stared at him, for some reason. The drawing started to slowly take form on the otherwise blank paper, lines creating masses of muscle, hair and a pair of glistening black eyes. Thick strokes created forms, and an animal form appeared on the paper beneath his hand. It was a black stallion, the one Sakura had discarded so easily, saying she'd keep up with his horse while travelling. Sai put the pencil down and stretched, cracking tired joints and held back a yawn. It was done. He reached for his pencil and put it into his backpack together with the eraser and the sketch arch. When he went to bed, beside a snoring Sakura, he thought about his mission. Before he slept, he had to go over the mission in his head - remind himself of his purpose. What Sakura didn't know... What she didn't need to know. He thought about what was required of him on this trip to Senjuyama village - in reality, not as a guide nor a bodyguard. He remembered days before when he had gotten the mission details from the man himself...

**_Days before present time _**

**ANBU Hidden Headquarters - Konohagakure, Land of Fire, 9:38 PM**

"I have a new mission for you."

"Yes, Danzou-sama."

"I need you to infiltrate the Hidden village of Senjuyama in the Land of Snow. I have a highly skilled ANBU vessel as well as a spy there whom you will meet. The vessel is a former Captain, regard him as your superior. The spy acts under the vessel. There has been some disturbances with the vessel's reports in the past two months, so I need you to see that everything is going according to plan."

"Yes, Danzou-sama."

"I have found an opportunity for you to have a reason for coming to this village. Recently, a fairly skilled Konohagakure Medic nin was kidnapped by the missing nin and criminal Orochimaru and was forced to heal the missing nin Sasuke Uchiha. The Hokage is afraid this will occur again, so she is sending her away to Senjuyama village, according to my will. You will accompany this Medic as a guide as well as an accomplice. I assured the Hokage that you would function as her bodyguard as well, which I am sure you are fully capable of."

"Yes, Danzou-sama. If I may impudently ask, however, what is the vessel's purpose in Senjuyama village? I am aware that you have seen to having two ANBU vessels in every hidden village, to see if there are any possible threats to Konohagakure, yet... From my knowledge of the Senjuyama village, it is only but a peaceful village with descendant's from the Senjuu clan, but without any abilities. They are weak, but they are protected by their relation to the powerful Senjuu. None disturbs them, they disturb none in return."

"Yes, I am aware of what is said about them, the rumours as well as what is written in the scrolls about Senjuyama village. However, that is all false words and sentences. It is only a part of their facade. Yes... it is but their appearance. This informations is highly classified, only but a few know of it. Simply put, the Hidden village of Senjuyama is a village consisting of highly skilled shinobi. It is a gathering place for strong shinobi who are too powerful for their own villages, so they settle in Senjuyama village, which is protected by its weak reputation and relation to the Senjuu clan. Senjuyama village does not have the occasional Chuunin exam as we do, they have 'exams' almost every week - they filter the weak from the strong by doing this. Children kill each other to gain strength, they kill comrades as if they were flies. This is their reality, yet that is not what I am concerned about. Senjuyama village is ruled by Three Elders, though they have a weak puppet called Takehiko who acts as the village's Headmaster. The Three Elder's are controlling him, he is a part of the facade to liken the village to weakness. The Three Elders are highly respected and powerful within hidden circuits. Many Lords and Daimyōs seek their assistance in either highly secret transportation, information gathering on other kingdoms or assassination. In that regard, assassination is usually the most required. I give this information to you, information I have gathered from the vessels in the Senjuyama village, for I see it will beneficial in your infiltration."

"Yes, Danzou-sama."

"The Three Elders created a group of the most skilled assassin's in Senjuyama village called the Kuro. I do not know much about them, all I know is that their leader is called by a foreign name; **Aeron**, and he is to be feared. At all costs, you will not associate yourself with him at all. You are not to even look him in the eye - he is a man who is far too strong. From my reports, I regard him as the most powerful man in Senjuyama village, he might even be of Kage tier. Continuing, the Kuro has the equal power to our ANBU, which leads to the fact that I cannot discard them as a mere assassination's group. The Kuro are hungry for power and they are dangerous, quite a fearful combination. I know for a fact that they have already destroyed three Hidden villages in the Land of Snow in their quest for power. On requests from a few lords, they massacred an entire village in the north. The last village they destroyed, to the ground with fires if I may add, was close to the border to the Land of Tea. If this continues, they may very well one day find an order to the obliteration of Konohagakure village. This order might very well be from one of our neighbouring Hidden villages, a few I know bears hatred for our village. This is my fear and my assumption, although far fetched - it is still a possible threat to Konohagakure. It cannot continue any further, yet first I need all the information I can get. This is where my vessels seem to have failed me, yet I do not know the reasons why it is so. You will see to this and clear all misunderstands regarding their reports. I value their reports highly, since they both are two of our best ANBU in both information gathering and assassination. If they are dead, I need to know. I also need to know what the Three Elders know, if they succeeded in torturing them to the point where they spilled who they were - though I highly doubt this. They are both after all our currently most skilled two ANBU, they would not fall to torture - their pain means nothing to them. However, I need to be certain of this. Am I clear?"

"I understand, Danzou-sama. I will confront the vessel and the spy and gather information on the delayed reports. Or if that is the case, I will gather information on what they know if they managed to kill them."

"Good. You will be back here within one month together with the Medic nin, both alive of course. Do not disappoint me. Now, is everything clear?"

"Yes."

"Then go."

**_Present time_**

**Somewhere in the Land of Earth, 6:00 PM**

Sakura breathed in gasps of pain, her lungs burned like caged hurling flames and her shivering untrained legs told her to rest ASAP. She sweated profusely, both her slightly big forehead and her back and her armpits and her chest and... almost every part of her body sweated. Her vision was blurred with exhaustion, the sweat searched its way into her eyes and she blinked it irritably away. Yet she continued to run, huffing and sweating as she was. She hadn't expected that big black animal of a horse to be so freaking _fast_. She had only heard of normal horses before, but she had never heard of Tsuchi no Kuni horses being any different. But they were. The Land of Earth scientists had apparently, just as Konoha had mutated the Forest of Death into a humongous forest with humongous lethal animals, developed a special breed of horses called Tsuchi no Kuni horses. This breed had been biologically altered, infused with chakra in their legs from birth, and their blood vessels had been developed to spread blood faster to their heart - simply to increase their speed. They were all black in their colour, with a distinct red in their manes. Their hind muscles played beneath the skin and their black eyes were almost frightening, yet they had a good nature and were all trained well from birth. They were all also well adapted to the unusually rocky climate and terrain of the Land of Tea. As humans had shinobi, horses had Tsuchi no Kuni.

Sai felt his mouth stretch as he saw how hard it was for Sakura to keep up with him as he galloped beside her, she gasped for air as she ran with all her might at his side. The hardly comfortable and constant bumpy ride left Sai with a sore rear, yet he didn't complain. He preferred the horse to running, it was more efficient that way. In case of attack, he'd be completely ready and rested. In comparison to the Medic nin however... She'd be killed by a simple civilian in that state of hers. He almost snorted, yet he didn't because he didn't know how to produce the feeling. Sai states to himself that she was quite unprofessional in doing this and he didn't know why she had decided to race with a horse, what with her taking all of their luggage as well. She was a dead weight to him, but this was his mission and his cover was dependant solely on her.

Sai had ridden horses a few times before, only to learn how to ride them as part of his training in ANBU, yet he had a bit of trouble with this Tsuchi no Kuni horse. The horse reacted very delicately at the rider's commands, only a light touch with his foot in the animal's ribs would make the horse force its hooves into the stony ground and set off like lightning. Sakura continued to keep the same pace as him, though he saw how strained she was and how hard it was for her to keep up. He noted that he felt a bit mischievous at this, he had read the word 'mischievous' in a book recently on human behaviour and emotions, so he kicked the horse lightly, ever so lightly, at the side and it set off in an instant at an incredible speed with a grunt rumbling through its stomach. He looked back at her surprised eyes and saw anger gathering in them and he smiled his most faux smile at her.

"Keep up, Ugly." He sneered and went off in a dusty cloud.

Sakura screamed, only it came out in huge gulps of rasping breath as she coughed in the dust left by the fast horse. She almost choked on her words as she was near to bite her own tongue off, yet she succeeded in calling out to Sai who was almost leaving her sight.

"Bastard!"

Sakura saw Sai disappearing in the slow sunrise of the red and orange dimly lit morning, she saw coloured clouds trying to cover the shy rising sun over the tree tops at the side of the road they ran on. The climate started to become more rocky and desolate. They had only travelled for about an hour and Sakura already regretted not having accepted the black stallion of Tsuchi no Kuni Sai had offered her. She had ran constantly, without pause, at Sai's side. That damn horse seemed to have an incredible amount of stamina as well. Sakura wheezed, spat out dry and slimy saliva at her side and she felt how her heart almost exploded in exhaustion. Her limbs were numb and she felt how flushed her cheeks were. Yet, she wouldn't stop. She wouldn't stop for anything. Even if her heart faltered, even if her legs broke down, she wouldn't stop _trying_. Her determination was sometimes frightening, even dangerous to her own self.

She wouldn't give in, she'd run as long as that horse trotted about, until Sai told her they needed a break. She would not be the first one to rest, she promised herself. Sweat covered her back now, her clothes hung onto her intimately and she felt drops of sweat disappear from her skin as she ran. Thumping her foot against the hard soil, she felt her legs scream after rest, she felt her blood pump at a high rate and she felt how dry her mouth was. Suddenly, the breakfast she had eaten that morning came up, nauseating feelings clouded her mind and she threw up on the ground. She hulked and until she had coughed up every amount of food there was in her stomach, she wiped her mouth clean, took a deep breath and started to run at full speed again. Her lungs started to burn immediately again, her legs cramped...

She felt how she nearly gave up.

Sakura cursed her lack of physical strength. This couldn't end here. Her instinct to win over Sai's horse overcame her. No. _She would not lose_.

And then suddenly, it was there. She felt it gathering in its familiar whirling power, swirling and collecting amounts of her chakra into one single point. A small purple rhombus was now visible on her forehead, she knew it without looking herself in a mirror - _it was there_. The power burst from her every limb, every muscle, with her two years of spared chakra. It came out as a strong relief of power in her tired body, she felt how she became accustomed to the raw chakra strength and she could run even faster. She could run _faster_. Before, she had been so near to giving up, slowing her pace, but now...

Sakura felt excitement bubble in her stomach and she almost flew over the stony ground, rocks flew everywhere behind her, her path was clear and she ran. Behind her, she saw how small clouds of dust was created with her every step. She ran, her legs became a whirl of motion underneath her and she couldn't even see her own legs, she ran too fast for a human eye to see, maybe even a trained shinobi eye. And without herself almost noticing, she was very far away from where she had been. She blinked. How fast was she actually running? Again, she was at another distance, several yards from where she had last seen anything of the scenery. She was in a much more rocky area now. Again, she was farther away. Sakura almost couldn't comprehend it. It was almost as if she transported herself every time she forced her feet into the ground. The Strength of a Hundred Seal surely was surprising. And she liked it.

In the far off distance of Sakura's peripheral vision she saw a dark shape near a small mountain, surrounded with big rocks. It was probably Sai and the black Tsuchi no Kuni horse and it seemed like he had stopped and stood calmly beside the horse, waiting for her... Sakura was suddenly beside them without her noticing, yet her feet continued without her consent. Sakura veered and put her feet into the ground to stop her speed. With her feet into the ground, even though a few meters away, she finally stopped and almost toppled over from the force of it. Only now, it looked like Sai had noticed her. His eyes were staring at her, baffled and questioning. Sakura huffed, drew in deep breaths of fresh air into her needy lungs and walked shakily to him and the horse. He was drinking water from the bottle they had bought earlier in the village.

"You... you flash stepped here?" Sai almost gushed the water from his mouth, yet he somehow succeeded in making that not happen. His constant steely and false composure was admirable.

"Huh?" Sakura huffed as a question, as she dried her forehead with the back of her hand, rubbing the sweat away. It was a long time since she had ran this hard and it felt incredible. She had forgotten how nice it felt after the exercise, endorphins had been created in her brain which made her feel an enormous sense of contentment.

"I couldn't see you run here. You were just suddenly _here_, in a flash. How did you learn to flash step? It's a very hard technique to-" Sai looked at her and his eyes widened a bit when Sakura took away her hand from her forehead and let it drop to her side. She panted still.

"What is that on your forehead?" He came closer to study it and Sakura proudly pointed at the rhombus. She was literally sparkling.

"It's the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Oh, Kami, it feels great!" Sakura laughed triumphantly. It seemed like it hadn't disappeared this time, so maybe it would be permanent from now on... Sakura mused and then smiled with happiness. She truly hoped so. When she got back to Konoha she'd go see Tsunade directly and boast of it.

Sai hadn't seen Sakura smile truly, not even once, during their travel together. Not once had he seen that kind of apparent happiness overcome her features. He found it... amusing. Her cheeks were flustered in a healthy pink shade, her wig - which truly looked to be her real hair - glistened with its unique blue colour in the fair light of sunrise and her golden eyes shone brightly with life. Even though they were contacts, they suited her perfectly. Sai couldn't tell a definition on the emotion gathering in the pit of his stomach. He went through the few feelings he knew by its definition. Maybe it was hunger? No. That was ridiculous. He didn't want to _eat_ the Medic nin. That would be a case of cannibalism which throughly frowned upon in shinobi sociality. But that emotion of... warmth and... tempting, what was it? Sai noted to himself that he needed to further study the range of 'warm, hungry, tempting' feelings, or was it urges?, in his book on 'Human Emotions'. It was a very good book. It had been the one to encourage nicknames for further bonding, and so far it seemed to have worked out really well with the Medic.

"And what exactly is the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Ugly?" Sai asked curiously as he offered his water bottle to Sakura. She took it greedily, turned it upside down and gulped down huge amounts of water, trickles of it left her mouth and ran down her throat. Sai regarded the bottle and tiredly thought they needed to refill very soon, otherwise this sweaty Medic would gulp it all down and they'd have nothing left.

"Thanks. It's the same seal Tsunade-sama have - I mean the Hokage, if you haven't noticed. It's a seal of chakra I've been gathering in small amounts for the last two years. I can release it and the power is supposed to be astounding. But it seems that just having it there gives me strength." She explained and Sai nodded as Sakura gave the bottle back to him - almost empty. Now that she had mentioned it, he saw the resemblance of the rhombus to Tsunade's own. Though, Sakura's was a bit different. With Sai's sharp eye to detail, he saw it clearly, yet at first he had missed it - but now he saw it. Sakura's was a bit.. bigger?

"Oi, Sai-san! Let's stop resting. On to running! You know what, it's going to be fun beating you at your own game." Sakura cheered and cracked her knuckles in high spirit as she stretched and prepared for running. Sai looked grudgingly back at his horse and the intimidating saddle. He was still sore.

"Sure. Just keep up, Ugly." Sai mocked her. He had read in his book on human emotions that 'mocking' could stimulate higher levels of fighting spirit. It could also stimulate 'dislike', yet Sai had not yet fully grasped the concept of 'dislike' as of yet.

"Nah, won't be a problem. Now, you're the one who's got to keep up!" Sakura snickered and in a flash, she was gone. A dusty cloud was all that was left behind of her, except for the fairest scent of cherry blossoms. It was probably her shampoo. Sai trudged up to the horse, he had yet to discover the animal's true speed. The speed which he had made the animal run at before had not been an ounce of its true speed, he knew it. He had felt its power underneath him. Sai's eyes glinted.

"We won't lose to Ugly. Right, _Black Beauty_?" Sai whispered and patted the horse gently on the mule. Sai's nickname for the horse was appraised with a short snort from the animal as it whipped its tail excitedly, it seemed. As if on cue, right after Sai had positioned himself on the horse and the saddle was fastened correctly, the horse went into full gallop. Sai almost had troubles holding onto it.

Sai tried to catch sight of Sakura's petite shape in the rocky area, maybe a flicker of the wig's blue hair, but he couldn't see her. He made a commando, known to be the commando of 'true speed' and suddenly, Sai almost fell of the moving animal. Or rather, flying animal. The Tsuchi no kuni horse almost flew over the ground and the wind whipped into Sai's face as he held onto it for his life. He struggled to keep at place and hardened his grip on the reins. He mustered some courage and commanded the horse to slow down a bit, what would the point be if he wasn't on the horse when it reached Sakura?

A few hours later Sai finally called out for rest. His rear was almost bleeding from blisters and he was hungry and thirsty and he simply couldn't take the bumpy ride anymore. Sakura appeared in a flash in front of him, blue hair whirling in the wind and golden eyes gleaming.

"I won!" She cheered and mockingly poked the horse on its mule with a glinted grin. The horse snorted and shook its head and thereby pushing Sakura's finger away; it clearly disliked the Medic.

"You know what? It's starting to get freaking cold." Sakura said coughed a bit, searching in the luggage she had been carrying. Yet, what she found instead of the grey coat she was looking for, she found a sketch book. Sai only looked at her. It was only pieces of paper, yet why didn't he want her to look at them? Sakura rose form her sitting position and wiggled the sketch book in her hand.

"Mind if I take a look?" She asked nicely. Sai only nodded and jumped off the horse, then he went to tie it to a nearby, slim rock. Sakura smiled, with still flushed cheeks, and sat down on a rock. She started browsing through the sheets and then her eyes went wide.

"Sai-kun, this is... This is absolutely great!" Sakura exclaimed and rose up from her position, staring at the pages. Sai went to one of the bags to take out some cold food he had stashed there the day before.

"Why aren't you a famous artist? I mean seriously. Your talent is putting me off."  
"Is that so, Ugly." Sai said solemnly.

"Come on. I mean, the Tsuchi no Kuni horse you offered to me yesterday, you only saw it once, right? And here it is, perfectly displayed and realistic. I love the thick strokes..." Sakura continued to talk about his drawings. Sai, somewhat, felt a bit uncomfortable. His admiration for art was not something he could fake... How would he be able to respond to her praise?

"T-that's enough." Sai stuttered and gently took away the sketch book from Sakura's eager hands. He hid the sketch book into his back pack with his back to her. Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. Had she just seen Sai... blush? Sakura almost giggled. It was actually quite adorable, like a little kitten. She almost felt like petting him. This thought only made Sakura blush herself.

"Um, let's eat." She said and went to help him cook their food.

Sai said nothing, for once.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hey yo!**

**A bit rushed, this chapter, yes it was. (ms yoda hello) The plot starts to take form now, you know... It's not there yet, but oh boy, when we get Sakura's and Sai's asses to Senjuyama things will happen. Maybe even some intimate action in the upcoming chapter with someone unexpected... Meheh. I will mesh something together actually. Oh, this will be so exciting.**

**Please, please review. It's what I feed on when I write. I really love you guys who've gone as far as reviewing my simple, mere and little story. So I will give this A/N to you guys. **

**This is my declaration of wordless love to my dearest reviewers:**

- The Banana Queen (my first reviewer - love you )

- Uchiha Jennifer (one of my first reviewers. your reviews make me smile!)

- Lonely Athena (little lovely compliment)

- LadyMartel4000 (lovely encouragement)

- Lisa loves anime (most awesome compliment ever! I love how you did your google search on words for awesome 3 )

- Piru (letting me know there's someone anxious out there on the outcome of my story which I decide! mahah tha powah)

**And then there's been some question to whom I ship Sakura with. And let me tell you this... ALLOF'EM. I like Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Kakashi, Neji, Itachi and well.. almost every guy. There's always something. Right now I'm more towards the Uchiha brothers... But that may change as I continue writing! We'll see, simple as that. You may have the power to convince me who to pair Sakura up with - only if you have a very goof explanation!**

**So, you little lovelies, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and can't wait for the next one!**

**Love,**  
**Lovisa**


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